The Golden Lion was awarded to Pedro Almodovar for “The Room Next Door”, Vincent Lindon best actor in “Playing with Fire”

The Italian film festival also rewarded the risk-taking of a Hollywood icon, Nicole Kidman, on Saturday.

He took the opportunity to make a plea in favour of what he describes as “fundamental right”. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar received the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, September 7, for The Room Next Door. A film about assisted suicide, it stars British actress Tilda Swinton and her American colleague Julianne Moore. It is one of the most prestigious awards of his immense career for his first American feature film. “The spirit is Spanish”, however, assured the director.

“I believe that saying goodbye to this world properly and with dignity is a fundamental right of every human being.”he said, urging “Believers of all religions should be respected and not interfered in individual decisions on this matter.” “Human beings should be free to live and die when life is unbearable for them.”he concluded. At 74, Pedro Almodovar, author of masterpieces such as All About My Mother And Talk to her, Oscar-winning filmmakers had never been honored with the top prize at a major festival.

For his part, Frenchman Vincent Lindon won the Best Actor award at the 81st Venice Film Festival on Saturday for his role as a father confronted with one of his sons’ drift towards the violent extreme right, in the feature film Play with fire. “I am extremely moved (…) Thank you to the entire jury!” said the 65-year-old actor, an essential face of French cinema and the cinematic embodiment of an angry man with obvious flaws. “I would like to thank Muriel and Delphine Coulin”, female directors, he added.

Vincent Lindon is not the only Frenchman to win an award at the Venice Film Festival. Actor Paul Kircher received the Revelation Award for his role in Their children after them, adapted from the novel by Nicolas Mathieu, which won the 2018 Prix Goncourt. This film is “the story of teenagers and a generation who grow up with a burning desire to participate in the world and are cast aside,” said the 22-year-old actor, receiving the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Emerging Performer. The outgoing Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, welcomed the award. “This distinction once again confirms Paul Kircher as a rising star of French cinema,” she congratulated.

On the actress side, it was Australian-American star Nicole Kidman who won the award, for her role in Babygirla new generation erotic thriller. In her absence, a message from the 57-year-old actress was read on stage by the film’s Dutch director, Halina Reijn: “I learned shortly after arriving in Venice of the death of my mother Janelle Kidman. I am in shock and I need to be with my family. This award is for her.” “She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I am beyond grateful to have the opportunity to speak her name in front of you all through Halinashe continued. The collision between life and art is overwhelming, my heart is broken.”