VENICE: Swedish director Roy Andersson’s film “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence,” a series of comedic sketches exploring the human condition, won the Golden Lion for best movie at the Venice film festival Saturday.

The eccentric film, which features salesmen flogging novelty items, singing bar women and a flamenco dancer, was hailed by critics in Venice for its distinctive look and moving exploration of what it means to be human.

Collecting the prize, Andersson told the audience in English that he had been inspired by Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 “Bicycle Thieves” — an emblem of Neorealism filmmaking — particularly the scene in the pawnshop, because the character “discovers Rome’s poor.”

“It’s a humanistic scene, it’s true empathy. That’s what a movie should be,” he said.

US actor Adam Driver, from the HBO series “Girls,” won best actor for his portrayal of a desperate father trying to save his baby son’s life in Italian Saverio Costanzo’s New-York based tale “Hungry Hearts.”

Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher won best actress for her performance in the same film, where she played a mother who believes her child is a ‘chosen’ one but risks killing him with her love.

The Grand Jury prize went to Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful “The Look of Silence,” his second documentary on the Indonesian genocide, in which the brother of a murdered man confronts his killers.