Négar Motevalymeidanshah, accepting her award for Immersive title “Less than 5gr of Saffron,” said: “I long for a time when no children of any land — not my land, Iran or anywhere — are forced into exile, may that day come soon.” And the Grand Prix in the Immersive section goes to “The Clouds are 2,000m Up” by Singing Chen, who described it as “a story about grief, memory and love and the unique culture of Taiwan. We wanted to bring the audience fully inside this story of loss and connection.” According to Chen, the work represents “two years of passion from my crew,” whom she thanked as the music threatened to drown her out.

Ana Cristina Barragán, accepting the Orizzonti best screenplay award for “The Ivy,” made the night’s first reference to the Gaza War by ending her Spanish-language acceptance speech with “Palestina libre.”

Italian Actors Shine

“Lost Lands” by Akio Fujimoto, an emotive tale of Rohingya refugees trying to make it from their camp in Bangladesh home to Malaysia, took the Orizzonti special jury prize. The film’s Rohingya producer issued an appeal: “To plead with all of you to share your voice… please work with us in our journey to go home.”

“I don’t want any clap for this,” she said over the applause. “I might upset my country [by saying this], but it doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

The conflict in Palestine was once again mentioned as a parting comment by the filmmakers behind “On the Road” by David Pablos, which took the top prize in Orizzonti and concluded the first section of the ceremony. Next up, the prize for best first feature (across all sections) before the night’s main event.

The Armani Beauty Audience Award went to Calle Malaga directed by Maryam Touzani. Touzani’s speech dedicated her award to her mother, her partner and producer Nabil Ayouch, and her son. “The joy I feel is profound.” she said, “but so is the pain I feel because like many of us I cannot forget the horror inflicted every minute, every second on the people of Gaza, the people of Palestine… We wipe our tears and we refuse to lose our humanity. Politics might fail but art is and will always be a home for justice, freedom and humanity.”

The Luigi De Laurentiis Award for debut film, for which the jury was chaired by “Aftersun” helmer Charlotte Wells, went to “Short Summer” from the Giornate selection. Accepting the award, director Nastia Korkia said: “This is the 1,291st day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I have never seen the war up close but for 1,291 days I feel its influence. Like radiation… it destroys society from within.” She continued, “I very much hope we will keep our eyes wide open and find the strength to stop the war.”

The international jury then took its place on stage and Fernanda Torres and Zhao Tao presented Luna Wedler of Ildikó Enyedi’s “Silent Friend” with the Marcello Mastroianni Award for emerging performer. She quite charmingly blanks on most of the names she wants to thank, except that of her director, whom she calls an inspiration as a woman and a filmmaker.

The best actress winner was Xin Zhilei of Cai Shangjun’s last-day premiere “The Sun Rises on Us All.” The Mandarin-language acceptance speech came from the actress, who reintroduced herself. “I am very happy and very proud,” she said before ignoring the play-off music twice to continue her thank yous.

The best actor wemt to local hero Toni Servillo for his lead performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia.

Adept veteran that he is, he shouted out the president of the jury, Alexander Payne as a director whom he has admired for years, before also mentioning Palestine in his more general, warmly received remarks about human dignity.

Previous Golden Lion winner Gianfranco Rosi got a special jury prize (the third place prize) for his Vesuvius documentary Below the Clouds, presented by Stephane Brizé.

Benny Safdie

Payne then announced the best director award, which went to Benny Safdie for his Mark Kerr biopic “The Smashing Machine.”

“Please don’t play the music!” Safdie begged, before describing the win as “a dream come true. To be here, amongst the giants of the past and the giants of this year, it blows my mind.” He described his film as “an exercise in radical empathy, and empathy is more important than ever.”

“The Voice of Hind Rajab” took the grand jury prize. Kaouther Ben Hania, the film’s Tunisian director, deliversed impassioned speech, dedicating the award to Palestinian Red Crescent and the other “heroes” in the first response teams.

“Hind’s voice was cry for rescue the entire world could hear but no one answered,” she said. “Her voice will continue to echo until accountability and justice is served. Cinema cannot bring her back nor can it erase the atrocity that was committed against her. But cinema can preserve her voice.” She continued in uncompromising form: “This is not just Hind’s story, it is the story of criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity… May Hind rest in peace, may the eyes of her killers never sleep, and free Palestine.”

My Indie Cinema Book:

Finally, the big award, the Golden Lion, was earned by Father Mother Sister Brother. Wearing his trademark sunglasses and a classy maroon suit, director Jarmusch accepted the award with a pitch perfect “Oh shit.”

“As filmmakers, we’re not motivated by competition, but this is something I truly appreciate.”

He mentioned his love for Venice, “the city of Casanova, Vivaldi and Terence Hill,” and thanked the jury and audience for responding to “our quiet film.” He also called out Safdie’s speech earlier, agreeing that “art does not have to address politics directly to be political. It can engender empathy which is the first step toward solving our problems.”

He finished by recalling a speech given by Akira Kurosawa when accepting  lifetime achievement award from the Academy. “He said something like he was worried that still didn’t quite know how do it, and I have that same feeling, of learning all the time,” Jarmusch concluded.

See all the award winners:

COMPETITION

Golden Lion for Best Film: “Father Mother Sister Brother,” Jim Jarmusch

Grand Jury Prize: “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Kaouther Ben Hania

Silver Lion for Best Director: Benny Safdie, “The Smashing Machine”

Special Jury Prize: “Below the Clouds,” Gianfranco Rosi

Best Screenplay: Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand, “À pied d’œuvre” (“At Work”)

Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Xin Zhilei, “The Sun Rises on Us All”

Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Toni Servillo, “La Grazia”

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor: Luna Welder, “Silent Friend”

Armani Beauty Audience Award: “Calle Malaga,” Maryam Touzani

Luigi De Laurentis Award for Debut Film: “Short Summer,” Nastia Korkia

HORIZONS

Best Film: “En el camino” (“On the Road),” David Pablos

Best Director: Anuparna Roy, “Songs of Forgotten Trees”

Special Jury Prize: “Harà Watan” (“Lost Land”), Akio Fujimoto

Best Actress: Benedetta Porcaroli, “Il Rapimento di Arabella” (“The Kidnapping of Arabella”

Best Actor: Giacomo Covi, “Un Anno di Scuola” (“A Year of School”)

Best Screenplay: “Hiedra” (“The Ivy”), Ana Cristina Barragán

Best Short Film: “Without Kelly,” Lovisa Sirén

VENICE CLASSICS

Best Documentary on Cinema: “Mata Hari,” Joe Beshenkovsky and James A. Smith

Best Restored Film: “Bashu, the Little Stranger,” Bahram Beizai

VENICE IMMERSIVE

Grand Prize: “The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up,” Singing Chen

Special Jury Prize: “Less Than 5gr of Saffron,” Négar Motevalymeidanshah

Achievement Prize: “A Long Goodbye,” Kate Voet and Victor Maes