Lebanese filmmaker Ahmad Ghossein emerged from the 34th edition of the Venice Film Festival with three prizes for his debut feature “All This Victory.”
Set in south Lebanon during Israel’s 34-day war with Hezbollah, “All This Victory” premiered in the International Film Critics’ Week (SIC), an independent, parallel section of the festival, co-organized by the National Union of Italian Film Critics.
It won the SIC Grand Prize as well as the program’s Audience Award and the Mario Serandrei Award for Best Technical Contribution - recognizing the work of sound designer Rana Eid, DP Shady Shaaban, art director Hussein Baydoun and the rest of the crew.
Though no Arab features were lauded in Venice’s main competition, Ghossein’s film was not the only title from this region to be feted elsewhere in the festival.
Among Venice’s official awards, the Lion of the Future - “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film went to Sudan’s Amjad Abu Alala for his debut feature “You Will Die At 20.”
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In the awards of the Orizzonti section for freshmen and sophomore directors, French-born North African performer Sami Bouajila took the best actor award for his work in Mehdi Barsaoui’s feature “Bik Eneich” (“A Son”).
Among the collateral awards of the festival, the Brian Award went to “The Perfect Candidate,” the third feature by Saudi writer-director Haifaa Al-Mansour.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
