VENICE: A gentle study of dysfunctional families by veteran American director Jim Jarmusch clinched the top prize at the Venice Film Festival Saturday, while a harrowing docudrama about the Gaza war took second.
Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, drew mostly positive reviews for its humorous portrayal of awkwardness and guilt.
The “Broken Flowers” director, who wrote the script for three family get-togethers in upstate New York, Dublin and Paris, had called it “a kind of anti-action film”.
“Thank you for appreciating our quiet film,” the 72-year-old said during his acceptance speech.
In a move that might disappoint campaigners against the Gaza war, the Venice jury under American director Alexander Payne did not reward “The Voice of Hind Rajab” with the Golden Lion.
Instead, the film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli troops last year, which reduced many festival viewers to tears, was given the grand jury second prize.
Franco-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania produced a dramatised re-telling of Hind Rajab Hamada’s ordeal after she was trapped in a car that came under fire while she and her relatives were fleeing Gaza City.
It was the most talked-about movie on the Venice Lido and tipped by many as the likely winner after a 23-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Wednesday.
Hind Rajab’s story “is not hers alone,” Ben Hania said as she accepted her award.
“It is tragically the story of an entire people enduring genocide, inflicted by a criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity,” she added.
Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and Oscar-winning directors Jonathan Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”) and Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”) joined the film as executive producers after editing had been completed.
Jarmusch signalled his opposition to Israel’s continued siege and bombardment of Gaza by wearing a badge saying “Enough” at the Venice awards ceremony.
