Venice Film Festival: Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ Wins The Golden Lion Best Film Prize

Oscar season has begun, this we know. But festival season and the awards speculation it incites just got supercharged as the Venice Film Festival has awarded all its prizes. And it’s a damn good day for Netflix. The streaming giant, which has a slew of Oscar-contenders coming out this fall just won the Best Picture award at the Lido: Alfonso Cuaron’s universally-loved “Roma” (our review), has taken the coveted Golden Lion prize. Netflix also took Best Screenplay for Joel & Ethan Coen’s “The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs” (our review). The streaming service has never been able to penetrate the Oscars in a major way before—not for lack of trying—but it’s pretty much a sure-fire bet they’re going to have a white-hot contender in Cuaron’s latest film. The Golden Lion only cements that prediction more.

READ MORE: Venice Film Festival Preview: 20 Most Anticipated Movies

Elsewhere, Fox Searchlight had a good day too winning the runner-up Grand Jury Prize for “The Favourite” (our review) which was also awarded Best Actress for Olivia Colman’s reportedly stunning performance. You can pretty much the film and actor will repeat those nominations come Oscar time. Best Director went to Jacques Audiard for his excellent Western “The Sisters Brothers” (our review), and Willem Dafoe won Best Actor for his role as Vincent Van Gogh in “At Eternity’s Gate.” If you’re wondering where Bradley Cooper‘s “A Star Is Born” (our review) is, considering the huge buzz it’s gained at both Venice and Toronto, the film screened out of competition and wasn’t eligible for any of the awards. The full list of winners below.

READ MORE: 55 Must-See Films: The 2018 Fall Movie Preview

VENICE 75
Golden Lion
Roma, dir: Alfonso Cuaron

Grand Jury Prize
The Favourite, dir: Yorgos Lanthimos

Silver Lion, Best Director
Jacques Audiard, The Sisters Brothers

Volpi Cup, Best Actress
Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Volpi Cup, Best Actor
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate

Best Screenplay
Joel & Ethan Coen, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

Special Jury Prize
The Nightingale, dir: Jennifer Kent (our review)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Baykali Ganambarr, The Nightingale

HORIZONS
Best Film
Manta Ray, dir: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng

Best Director
Ozen (The River), dir: Emir Baigazin

Special Jury Prize
Anons (The Announcement), dir: Mahmut Fazil Coskun

Best Actress
Natalya Kudryashova, The Man Who Surprised Everyone

Best Actor
Kais Nasif, Tel Aviv On Fire

Best Screenplay
Pema Tseden, Jinpa

Best Short Film
Kado, dir: Aditya Ahmad

Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film
The Day I Lost My Shadow, dir: Soudade Kaadan

VENICE VIRTUAL REALITY
Best VR
Spheres: Chorus Of The Cosmos, dir: Eliza McNitt

Best VR Experience
Buddy VR, dir: Chuck Chae

Best VR Story
L’Ile Des Morts, dir: Benjamin Nuel

VENICE CLASSICS
Best Documentary on Cinema
The Great Buster: A Celebration, dir: Peter Bogdanovich (our review)

Best Restoration
La Notte Di San Lorenzo, dirs: Paolo Vittorio Taviani

Check out all our coverage from the 2018 Venice Film Festival here.