The Venice Film Festival, the longest-running film festival in the world, handed out its 60th annual prestigious Golden Lion Awards Saturday evening. The top prize of the night went to first-time Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev's Vozvrashchenie (The Return). The film tells a father's story as he tries to reconnect with his sons after 10 years apart. The story is especially tragic since one of the young actors recently drowned in a Russian lake where some of the film was shot. The runner up was The Kite from Lebanese director Randa Chahal Sabbag. The best director award went to Japanese director Takeshi Kitano for his film Zatoichi, the story of a blind swordsman in 19th century Japan. Sean Penn also picked up the best actor prize for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams, costarring Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro, which is scheduled to close this year's New York Film Festival.
Posted by jordan at September 7, 2003 3:41 PM