Venice Film Festival ends with awards that could boost Oscars race

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The 82nd Venice Film Festival concludes Saturday with the announcement of its top prizes, including the Golden Lion for best film.

This year’s lineup featured several Oscar contenders. Kathryn Bigelow drew attention with her nuclear thriller A House of Dynamite, while Guillermo del Toro presented his gothic Frankenstein starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi. Park Chan-wook impressed with the satire No Other Choice, and Dwayne Johnson surprised with a dramatic turn in The Smashing Machine.

Other highlights included Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, George Clooney’s Hollywood reflection Jay Kelly, and Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in The Wizard of the Kremlin. Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania made waves late in the festival with The Voice of Hind Rajab, a searing Gaza war drama that received a 22-minute standing ovation.

Alexander Payne headed the main jury, which also included filmmakers and actors from Brazil, Iran, France, Italy, China and Romania.

Past Venice winners such as Lanthimos and del Toro went on to triumph at the Oscars, cementing the festival’s reputation as a launchpad for award season.