US indie film beats out Gaza war docudrama for Venice top prize
Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ took home the Golden Lion, while ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ took second place
A gentle study of dysfunctional families by veteran American director Jim Jarmusch clinched the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on 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,” he 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.