This page is an academic exploration based on the Wikipedia article for the 60th Venice International Film Festival. Read the full source article here. (opens in new tab)

Venice Visions

The 60th Venice International Film Festival: A Cinematic Retrospective

Films 🎞️ Awards 🏆

Dive in with Flashcard Learning!


When you are ready...
🎮 Play the Wiki2Web Clarity Challenge Game🎮

Introduction

Festival Overview

The 60th annual Venice International Film Festival, a prestigious event in the cinematic calendar, convened from August 27 to September 6, 2003. Held at the historic Venice Lido, this edition celebrated the art of filmmaking with a diverse array of international cinematic works.

Key Accolades

The festival's highest honor, the Golden Lion, was awarded to Andrey Zvyagintsev for his film The Return. The opening ceremony featured Woody Allen's Anything Else, setting a distinguished tone for the festival's proceedings.

Jury Leadership

Esteemed Italian filmmaker Mario Monicelli presided over the main competition jury, guiding the selection process for the festival's top prizes. His leadership underscored the festival's commitment to artistic excellence and critical evaluation.

Esteemed Juries

Main Competition (Venezia 60)

The jury responsible for awarding the Golden Lion and other principal prizes comprised:

  • President: Mario Monicelli (Italian filmmaker)
  • Stefano Accorsi (Italian actor)
  • Michael Ballhaus (German cinematographer)
  • Ann Hui (Chinese director)
  • Pierre- berfungsi Jolivet (French director, actor, screenwriter, producer)
  • Monty Montgomery (American actor and filmmaker)
  • Assumpta Serna (Spanish actress)

Upstream (Controcorrente) Jury

This jury conferred awards for best film, special director's award, and acting accolades within the Upstream section:

  • President: Laure Adler (French Journalist)
  • Vito Amoruso (Italian literary critic)
  • Samir Farid (Egyptian film critic)
  • Rene Liu (Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actress, director, writer)
  • Ulrich Tukur (German actor)

Luigi De Laurentiis Award Jury

This jury focused on debut feature films:

  • President: Lia van Leer (Israeli founder of Haifa Cinematheque, Israel Film Archive, and Jerusalem Film Festival)
  • Jannike Ahlund (Swedish film critic)
  • Pierre-Henri Deleau (French film producer and actor)
  • Stefan Kitanov (Bulgarian film producer)
  • Peter Scarlet (Executive director of Tribeca Festival)

Film Selections

In Competition

The following films vied for the Golden Lion:

English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
21 Grams Alejandro González Iñárritu United States
Alila Amos Gitai Israel, France
Code 46 Michael Winterbottom United Kingdom
Feelings Les Sentiments Noémie Lvovsky France
The Floating Landscape 情之浮世 Carol Lai Hong Kong, France
A Good Lawyer's Wife Baramnan Gajok Im Sang-soo South Korea
Good Morning, Night Buongiorno, notte Marco Bellocchio Italy
Goodbye, Dragon Inn 不散 Tsai Ming-liang Taiwan
Imagining Argentina Christopher Hampton Spain, United Kingdom, United States
The Kite طائرة من ورق Randa Chahal Sabag Lebanon
Loving Glances Sjaj u očima Srđan Karanović Serbia and Montenegro, United Kingdom
The Miracle Il Miracolo Edoardo Winspeare Italy
Pornografia Jan Jakub Kolski Poland, France
Raja Jacques Doillon France, Morocco
The Return Возвращение Andrey Zvyagintsev Russia
Rosenstrasse Margarethe von Trotta Germany, Netherlands
Secret File Segreti di Stato Paolo Benvenuti Italy
A Talking Picture Um Filme Falado Manoel de Oliveira Portugal
Twentynine Palms Bruno Dumont France, Germany, United States
Zatōichi 座頭市 Takeshi Kitano Japan

Out of Competition

Selected films screened outside the main competition:

English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
Anything Else (opening film) Woody Allen United States
Coffee and Cigarettes Jim Jarmusch United States
Intolerable Cruelty Joel Coen United States
Le Divorce James Ivory United Kingdom, United States, France
Matchstick Men Ridley Scott United States, United Kingdom
Monsieur Ibrahim Monsieur Ibrahim et le fleurs du Coran François Dupeyron France
Once Upon a Time in Mexico Robert Rodriguez United States
The Dreamers Bernardo Bertolucci Italy, United Kingdom, France
The Human Stain Robert Benton United States, Germany
Special Events
The Blues - Feel Like Going Home Martin Scorsese United States
The Blues - Godfathers and Sons Marc Levin United States
The Blues - Red, White and Blues Mike Figgis United States
The Blues - The Road To Memphis Richard Pearce United States

Short Film Competition

Selected short films competing for awards:

Title Director(s) Production Country
In competition
El excusado Lorenza Manrique Mexico
From Where I'm Standing Annalise Patterson New Zealand
God's Kitchen Paki Smith Ireland
Hochbetrieb Andreas Krein Germany
Match Jef Nassenstein Netherlands
Neft (The Oil) Murad Ibragimbekov Russia, Azerbaijan
Neon Eyes Thomas Gerhold, Markus Wambsganss Germany
Ore 2 Calma Piatta Marco Pontecorvo Italy
Ritterschlag Sven Martin Germany
Solitaire Thor Bekkavik Norway
The Trumouse Show Julio Robledo Spain
Zippo Stefano Sollima Italy
Out of Competition
Destino Dominique Monféry France, United States
Le lion volatil Agnès Varda France

Festival Sections

Upstream (Controcorrente)

This section highlighted films noted for their innovative intent, creative originality, or alternative cinematographic languages.

English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
Antenna Antena Kazuyoshi Kumakiri Japan
Break Free Liberi Gianluca Maria Tavarelli Italy
Casa de los babys Casa de los babys John Sayles United States, Mexico
The Chimera of Heroes La quimera de los heroes Daniel Rosenfeld Argentina, France, Denmark
The First Letter Abjad Abolfazl Jalili Iran, France, Italy
The Five Obstructions De Fem Benspaend Jørgen Leth and Lars Von Trier Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, France
In the Forest... Again Abar Aranye Goutam Ghose India
Last Life in the Universe เรื่องรัก น้อยนิด มหาศาล Pen-ek Ratanaruang Thailand, Hong Kong, Netherlands, United States, Japan
Lost in Translation Lost in Translation Sofia Coppola United States, Japan
Mud Çamur Derviş Zaim Italy, Cyprus
A Place Among the Living Une place parmi les vivants Raoul Ruiz France, Romania
The Python Pitons Laila Pakalnina Latvia
The Return of Cagliostro Il ritorno di Cagliostro Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco Italy
Schultze Gets the Blues Schultze Gets the Blues Michael Schorr Germany
Silence Between Two Thoughts Sokoote beine do fekr Babak Payami Iran
The Sun Assassinated Le soleil assassiné Abdelkrim Bahloul France
Travellers and Magicians བོད་ཀྱི་གྲྭ་པ་དང་སྒྱུ་མ་མཁན Khyentse Norbu Bhutan, United Kingdom
Vodka Lemon Vodka Lemon Hiner Saleem France, Italy, Switzerland, Armenia
Special Event
The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp Peter Greenaway United Kingdom

New Territories

This section showcased a diverse range of films, including fiction, non-fiction, medium-length, and short films.

Feature Films - Fiction

English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
Pequeña paloma blanca Christian Barbe Chile, United Kingdom
Threads Khahit errouh Hakim Belabbes Morocco, United States
Vibrator ヴァイブレーター Ryūichi Hiroki Japan
L'ultimo piano Paolo Scarfò Italy
Le dernier des immobiles Nicola Sornaga France
Chemical Hunger Fame chimica Antonio Bocola, Paolo Vari Italy, Switzerland

Feature Films - Non Fiction

English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
Mattatoio Akab (Gabriele Di Benedetto) Italy
L'uomo segreto Nino Bizzarri Italy
Retour à Kotelnitch Emmanuel Carrère France
Mists Brumas Ricardo Costa Portugal
At School A scuola Leonardo Di Costanzo France, Italy
War Guerra Pippo Delbono Italy, Israel, Palestine
Italian sud est Fluid Video Crew Italy
Materiali a confronto Giuseppe M. Gaudino Italy
Un instante en la vida ajena Jose Luis López-Linares Spain
Counter Site Contr@site Fausta Quattrini, Daniele Incalcaterra Argentina, Switzerland
Prisoner of the Iron Bars O Prisioneiro da Grade de Ferro Paulo Sacramento Brazil
On n'est pas des marques de vélo Jean-Pierre Thorn France
Barefoot to Herat پابرهنه تا هرات Majid Majidi Iran

Medium-length Films

English Title Director(s) Production Country
United We Stand Matteo Barzini Italy
Un fils Amal Bedjaoui France
Sorriso amaro Matteo Bellizzi Italy, Finland, Switzerland
Segni particolari - Appunti per un film sull'Emilia Romagna Giuseppe Bertolucci Italy
My Father's Garden Matthew Brown Italy, South Africa
Il senso del mistero Paolo Brunatto Italy
Picciridda Alberto Castiglione Italy
Stessa rabbia, stessa primavera Stefano Incerti Italy
Maledetta mia Wilma Labate Italy
The Malady of Death La Maladie de la Mort Asa Mader France, United States
Paesaggio a Sud Vincenzo Marra Italy
Margherita. Ritratto Confidenziale Giuseppe Piccioni Italy
Senza tregua Marco Pozzi Italy

Short Films

English Title Director(s) Production Country
Poem Carlos Armella United Kingdom
Chaplin Aujourd'hui - The Kid Alain Bergala France
Japan-eno - Stornmi # 3 - Clessiquidre hz FX - China #4 FX - A...B...C...cletta - CoplanDesideri - Occhi di-visi Occhi di-versi Ermanno De Biagi Italy
The Time We Lost Tommaso Cammarano Italy, United States
Lo stuoino di pietra Gina Carducci Italy, United States
Pequeñas voces Eduardo Carrillo Colombia, United Kingdom, Spain
Ssst Pietro Durante, Lisa Ferlazzo Natoli Italy
Structural Filmwaste. Dissolution 1 Siegfried A. Fruhauf Austria
La ricerca di mia madre Paola Gandolfi, Francesca Ravello Italy
Ne dites pas à ma mère Sarah Moon Howe Belgium, France
Libberato Davide Lombardi Italy
La spia che era in me Mario Materia Italy
Prises de vues Sebastian Meise Austria
Relojes de arena José Francisco Ortuno, Laura Alvea Spain
The Affirmation of Jimmy Brown Robert Pasternak Canada
My McQueen Lourdes Portillo United States
Racconti per l'isola Costanza Quatriglio Italy
Grande anarca Alvise Renzini Italy
Fantasmi di voce - Antonio Stagnoli Elisabetta Sgarbi Italy
You Are Evil Louis Taylor Canada
Shen-Zi Nell Yen-ni Wang, Jin-yi Liu Taiwan
Special Events
The Agronomist Jonathan Demme United States
The Saddest Music in the World Guy Maddin Canada
Persona non grata Oliver Stone United States, France, Spain

Awards and Honors

Official Awards

The primary accolades presented at the festival:

  • Golden Lion: The Return by Andrey Zvyagintsev
  • Silver Lion for Best Director: Takeshi Kitano for Zatōichi
  • Grand Special Jury Prize: The Kite by Randa Chahal
  • Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Sean Penn for 21 Grams
  • Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Katja Riemann for Rosenstrasse
  • Marcello Mastroianni Award: Najat Benssallem for Raja
  • Best Screenplay: A Good Lawyer's Wife

Honorary Golden Lion

Lifetime achievement awards were presented to:

  • Dino De Laurentiis
  • Omar Sharif

Independent Awards

Awards conferred by independent bodies:

  • FIPRESCI Award (Venezia 60): Goodbye, Dragon Inn by Tsai Ming-liang
  • FIPRESCI Award (Parallel Section): Matrubhoomi by Manish Jha
  • Silver Lion for Best Short Film: Neft (The Oil) by Murad Ibragimbekov
  • UIP Award for Best European Short Film: The Trumouse Show by Julio Robledo
  • Short Film Special Mention: Hochbetrieb by Andreas Krein

Festival Context

Origins and Location

The Venice International Film Festival, established in 1932, is the world's oldest film festival and forms part of the larger La Biennale di Venezia. The 60th edition, like its predecessors, was held on the Venice Lido, a barrier island providing a unique and glamorous setting for this esteemed cultural event.

Teacher's Corner

Edit and Print this course in the Wiki2Web Teacher Studio

Edit and Print Materials from this study in the wiki2web studio
Click here to open the "60th Venice International Film Festival" Wiki2Web Studio curriculum kit

Use the free Wiki2web Studio to generate printable flashcards, worksheets, exams, and export your materials as a web page or an interactive game.

True or False?

Test Your Knowledge!

Gamer's Corner

Are you ready for the Wiki2Web Clarity Challenge?

Learn about 60th_venice_international_film_festival while playing the wiki2web Clarity Challenge game.
Unlock the mystery image and prove your knowledge by earning trophies. This simple game is addictively fun and is a great way to learn!

Play now

Explore More Topics

Discover other topics to study!

                                        

References

References

  1.  Salvatore Mereu on IMDb
  2.  Marc Kim on IMDb
  3.  Frédéric Videau on IMDb
A full list of references for this article are available at the 60th Venice International Film Festival Wikipedia page

Feedback & Support

To report an issue with this page, or to find out ways to support the mission, please click here.

Academic Disclaimer

Important Notice

This document has been generated by an Artificial Intelligence for educational and informational purposes, drawing exclusively from the provided source material. While efforts have been made to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness based on the source, it is intended as a scholarly overview and not as a definitive or exhaustive record.

This is not professional advice. The information presented here is not a substitute for expert consultation regarding film history, festival analysis, or any related academic field. Users should consult primary sources and academic experts for in-depth research and verification.

The creators of this content are not liable for any inaccuracies, omissions, or actions taken based on the information provided herein. The content reflects the state of the source data at the time of processing.