Abortion drama wins top prize at Venice Film Festival

Abortion drama wins top prize
The winning film was directed by Audrey Diwan. Source: EPA
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Daily US Times: A film about illegal abortion in 1960s France has won the Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival. This is the top prize of rge festival.

Happening (L’Événement), directed by Audrey Diwan, is about a woman seeking a termination to continue studying.

While accepting the award, the director said: “I did this movie with anger, with desire, with my belly, my guts, my heart and my head.”

The film comes after controversial new laws were introduced in Texas banning abortion after six weeks.

The 78th edition of the Venice Film Festival wrapped up on Saturday night, with international celebrities flocking to Venice’s red carpet.

The world’s oldest film festival was a stark contrast to last year’s event, when guests had to wear facemasks during screenings and around half of the seats on the Lido waterfront were left empty due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Happening is based on an autobiographical novel by Annie Ernaux and portrays a young woman seeking an abortion to be able to continue her studies, despite the risk of prison or death.

The award was selected by a jury led by Bong Joon-Ho, the director of Parasite.

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino won the second prize, the Silver Lion, for The Hand of God, a film about his youth in the southern city of Naples.

Actress Penelope Cruz won the award for best actress for her role in Parallel Mothers. Best Actor award went to Filipino actor John Arcilla for his role in crime thriller On the Job: The Missing 8.

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