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Close finish in race for Venice Golden Lion
2006-09-09
Films from Italy, France, the United States and Britain are favourites to win the Golden Lion for best picture at the 63rd Venice Film Festival which concludes with a gala finale. Stephen Frears' "The Queen" remains the popular favourite to take the coveted prize, awarded by a jury headed by French actress Catherine Deneuve and including Bigas Luna and Cameron Crowe. A new rule at the festival precludes a film from winning more than one prize, and with Frears' actress Helen Mirren favourite to win the Best Actress prize for her role as Queen Elizabeth II, the destination of the top prize is more difficult to predict. A local jury made up of 26 students have already made up their mind, awarding Russian director Ivan Vyrypaev's "Ejforija" (Euphoria) the Leoncino d'Oro -- the Golden Lion cub -- a play on the name of the main prize. The youth jury has a record of predicting the winner of the festival's main prize; the winner of the "Lion cub" has won the Golden Lion in six of the last 17 years. "To be recognized in a setting like this one is like a dream come true," said an elated Vyrypaev, whose film tells the story of a rural housewife Vera who runs off with her lover only to be persued by her vodka-drinking husband. The film is set in southern Russia and stars Polina Agureyeva, the director's wife. The film has been a dark horse for the main prize from some critics but has been overshadowed by "The Queen", "Coeurs" by Alain Resnais and latterly, "Nuovomondo" (The Golden Door) by Italian director Emanuele Crialese. A straw poll of Italian journalists by an Italian cinema magazine Ciak has plumped for "Bobby", Emilio Estevez's look at how ordinary people were affected by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Mirren faces competition for the Best Actress award from Sabine Azema in Resnais' movie as well as another French actress, Isabel Huppert, for her role in Joachim Lafosse's "Private Property". The main contenders for the Best Actor prize are Sergio Castellito (The Missing Star), Vincenzo Amato (The Golden Door) and British actor Clive Owen for Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men". "A guide to recognizing Your Saints" directed by Dito Montiel and produced by pop star Sting, has won the Critics' Week award. Meanwhile, Australian rock musician Nick Cave was awarded the inaugural Gucci prize at a ceremony in Venice on Friday. The new prize will be awarded annually to an internationally acclaimed artist from outside cinema who has made a remarkable contribution to a film in any capacity in the previous 18 months.
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