The Golden Lion crowns “Nomadland”, an ode to America’s losers

An American film crowned in Venice: “Nomadland”, carried by the magnetic presence of the actress at the two Oscars Frances McDormand, won the Golden Lion at the end of an edition marked by the coronavirus crisis.

Chloé Zhao, 38-year-old Chinese American director, is the first woman to receive this prestigious award, since Sofia Coppola was crowned in 2010 for “Somewhere”.

With this award, the director, who rose to prominence in 2017 with “The Rider” and is preparing a Marvel film due out next year, can hope to be in the race for the Oscars. She would follow the example of several Golden Lions in recent years, including the “Joker” of Todd Phillips, crowned in 2019 and Oscar winner a few months later.

By distinguishing “Nomadland”, the jury chaired by the Australian star Cate Blanchett chose to reward one of the rare American productions presented during this edition unlike any other of the Venice Mostra, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is also by a video message recorded from a van in Pasadena, California, that the director reacted to the award ceremony. A cruel reminder of the health crisis that brought the film industry to its knees and prevented many film teams from making the trip to Venice.

” Thank you so much ! “, Simply declared the filmmaker. “Thank you very much for this Golden Lion,” said Frances McDormand, sitting next to him. Thank you “for welcoming us to your festival, in this very, very strange world. We will meet again on the road! »Launched with a big smile the actress, who is at the origin of this project.

Successful bet for the organization

This melancholy road-trip is a plunge into the world of “van dwellers”, those Americans who live in their converted vehicle, doing odd jobs. They meet in community, at random on their route, or on social networks (#vanlife).

Frances McDormand plays there a broken woman who leaves everything to live in her converted van, her “American dream” to her on the fringes of America.

The jury, which included the French actress Ludivine Sagnier and the American actor Matt Dillon, also distinguished “Nuevo Orden” by Mexican Michel Franco (Grand Prix du jury), and the Silver Lion for best director went to the Japanese Kiyoshi Kurosawa for “The sacrificed lovers”.

As for the performers, the Briton Vanessa Kirby, who made a name for herself with her role as Princess Margaret in the series “The Crown”, is crowned for her first title role at the cinema in “Pieces of a woman” by Kornel Mundruczo. The 32-year-old actress was also featured in another Lido selection, “The World to Come” by Mona Fastvold.

Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino has been awarded for his role in “Padrenostro” by Claudio Noce.

For the organizers of the Mostra, scrutinized by the entire film industry, having maintained this festival, the first major meeting of its kind since the months of confinement, is a victory.

The competition took place there under close surveillance with compulsory wearing of a mask, temperature controls and safety distances. But no “cluster” of contamination was detected, according to the organizers, and the party was able to come to an end.

A sign of hope for professionals and for moviegoers, saturated with streaming films during confinement.