VENICE, (Reuters) – The award of top prize to hard-hitting Israeli war movie “Lebanon” was a fitting end to this year’s Venice film festival, where political passions ran high throughout.
The appearance of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and veteran U.S. director Oliver Stone together on the red carpet half way through the 11-day cinema showcase said it all.
Film makers from around the world tackled issues from capitalism to war, Iranian democracy to suicide in a further sign that independent cinema is determined to take on tough contemporary themes despite limited box office appeal.
And after a spate of films about U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq, the focus is likely to switch to the economic crisis, starting with Michael Moore’s documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” which had its world premiere in Venice.
The award of the coveted Golden Lion to Lebanon will be a broadly popular choice after critics lauded the film and its harrowing depiction of the horror of battle, with the New York Times calling it “an astonishing piece of cinema.”
Iranian video artist Shirin Neshat picked up the best director Silver Lion for “Women Without Men”, about four women living through Iran’s foreign-backed coup in 1953 but which the director said had clear parallels to today’s protests.
“In a political verdict, the festival rewarded two pacifist films coming from two countries that hate each other,” said Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Lebanon director Samuel Maoz shot almost the entire drama from inside a tank to communicate the claustrophobia and fear he experienced as a young Israeli conscript during the 1982 war.