Pigeon takes lion in Venice

Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat On a Branch Reflecting On Existence wins top prize

by Amber Wilkinson

A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence won the Golden Lion
A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence won the Golden Lion
Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat On a Branch Reflecting On Existence has won the Golden Lion Award at the 71st Venice Film Festival.

The Swedish absurdist film is the third in the trilogy featuring Songs From The Second Floor and You, The Living, described as “the final part of a trilogy about what it means to be a human being”.

Andersson said he had been inspired by the famous Italian director Vittorio De Sica, and particularly Bicycle Thieves.

He said: "It's so full of empathy and it's so humanistic and I think that's what movies should be, in the service of humanism. "So I will go further and try to work and make as good movies as Vittorio De Sica."

Russia's Andrei Konchalovsky took home the Silver Lion for The Postman’s White Nights - about a village and which sees locals play a version of themselves, is about a postie who is the villager's only connection to the outside world in post-Soviet Russia.

The Look Of Silence won the Grand Jury Prize
The Look Of Silence won the Grand Jury Prize
Joshua Oppenheimer won the Grand Jury Prize for his follow-up documentary to The Act Of Killing. The Look Of Silence considers the victims of Indonesia’s communist purge. It also won the FIPRESCI international critics prize.

Sivas, a Turkish coming-of-age film about a boy and a dog that he rescues- directed by Kaane Mujdeci - won the Special Jury Prize.

Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s Tales, considering contemporary Iran, won Best Screenplay.

Both main acting prizes went to Saverio Costanzo's Hungry Hearts - to Adam Driver and Alba Rohrwacher for their portrayal of a young New York dad and Italian mum who come into conflict over their child's eating habits. French star Romain Paul won the the Emerging Actor award for his role in Alex Delaport's Le Dernier Coup de Marteau.

The Lion of the Future - awarded to a first feature - was won by Indian film Court about the pitfalls of the Indian judicary, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, who also took home the Best Picture prize in the Orizzonti section.

Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman - starring Michael Keaton - was conspicuous by its absence in the prize line-up after receiving rave reviews, and whispers of Oscar glory, when it screened earlier in the festival.

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