‘From Afar’ wins Venice Golden Lion

VENICE: Venezuelan drama “Desde Alla” (From Afar), won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival Saturday on a night to remember for Latin American cinema.
The debut feature by director Lorenzo Vigas was awarded the festival’s top prize by a jury chaired by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron from a selection of 21 productions from around the world. The Silver Lion for best director went to Argentina’s Pablo Trapero for “The Clan,” a crime movie based on a real-life story of a prosperous family of kidnappers in Buenos Aires which has been a huge hit on home soil.
American duo Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson took the Grand Jury Prize for their acclaimed and highly original stop animation feature for adults “Anomalisa.”
Italy’s Valeria Golina won the best actress award for “Per amor vostro” (For Your Love), a Naples-set drama by Giuseppe Gaudino. France’s Fabrice Luchini was named best actor for his role in Christian Vincent’s “L’Hermine,” which also won the best screenplay award in the main competition.
But there was no recognition for Tom Hooper’s “The Danish Girl,” which unexpectedly left many critics underwhelmed.
The British production had been one of the pre-festival favorites with Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne heavily tipped for further recognition for his depiction of a transgender artist’s journey from being a man to becoming a woman in the early 1930s.