PALMARES

QUEER LION AWARD 2022

Cast & crew of the movie “Aus meiner Haut” in Venice – Lido. Among them: Alex Schaad, Dimitrij Schaad, Jonas Dassler, Mala Emde, Maryam Zaree, Edgar Selge.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

VENEZIA 79: QUEER LION AWARD 2022 TO ”AUS MEINER HAUT” BY ALEX SCHAAD
“The Queer Lion 2022 goes to Aus meiner Haut (Skin Deep) di Alex Schaad for the representation of the dynamics that codify the complex language of feelings, by telling a love story that literally transcends bodies. What initially appears as a body swapping horror movie, quickly starts overcoming both cinematic genres and genders. In doing so, it poses surprisingly clever and daring questions, challenging the very nature and purpose of love, be it the mind, the body, the pleasure or the laws of desire. In demolishing the idea of pre-established roles in favor of endless fluid possibilities, the movie boldly succeeds in turning the acronym LGBTQ into a single word”.

QUEER LION AWARD 2021

September 10th 2022: award ceremony of the 15th Queer Lion Award to La dernière séance, with director Gianluca Matarrese and co-star Bernard Guyonnet in attendance. Location: Hollywood Celebrities Lounge, Circolo del Tennis, Lungomare Marconi, Lido di Venezia.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

VENEZIA 78: QUEER LION AWARD 2021 TO “LA DERNIÈRE SÉANCE” BY GIANLUCA MATARRESE
“The Queer Lion 2021 goes to La dernière séance (The Last Chapter) by Gianluca Matarrese, for its ability to draw a portrait shifting from intimate to universal, thanks to the documentary form used with outstanding narrative cogency, to give voice to the necessary memory of a chapter of history – the era of Aids – that is far from over, while at the same time cleverly dismantling the taboo surrounding BDSM practices.”

QUEER LION AWARD 2020

September 11th, 2020: award ceremony of 14. Queer Lion Award to The World To Come at Villa degli Autori, headquarters of Giornate degli Autori in Venice Lido. Collecting the award, director Mona Fastvold.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

14. QUEER LION AWARD TO “THE WORLD TO COME” BY MONA FASTVOLD
“Narrating the dramatic story of two women who discover their own identities, the movie idealizes, as the title suggests, a scenario of knowledge, independence from predefined roles and gender freedom, that will find its progressive fulfilling and affirmation only throughout the 20th Century.”

QUEER LION AWARD 2019

September 6th, 2019: award ceremony of 13. Queer Lion Award to El Príncipe at Sala Tropicana, inside hotel Excelsior in Venice Lido. Collecting the award, director Sebastián Muñoz.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

13. QUEER LION AWARD TO “EL PRÍNCIPE” BY SEBASTIÁN MUÑOZ
“El Príncipe is a passionate portrait of life in a Chilean prison on the eve of Allende’s rise to power in 1970. The savage brutality of prison life is contrasted by intensely emotional relationships between prisoners. Led by a towering Alfredo Castro, the excellent ensemble cast give stirring performances of a powerful script which conveys the paradoxical acceptance of gay attachments in prison at a time when it was not socially acceptable. Sebastián Muñoz’s directorial debut is a bold and erotically charged exploration of recent history which reveals an unexpected tenderness at its heart.”

QUEER LION AWARD 2018

September 7th, 2018: Queer Lion Award ceremony, with Enrique Salanic, Manolo Herrera (actors), Li Cheng (director), George F Roberson (producer), Luis Andrés Schwartz (production manager), Daniel N. Casagrande (APS Queer Lion), Gaia Furrer, Renata Santoro, Luca Di Leonardo (Venice Days).

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

12. QUEER LION AWARD TO “JOSÉ” BY LI CHENG
“Sensitively written and beautifully performed, this passionate portrait of a young man’s journey in search of emotional fulfillment, shows the complexity of a same-sex relationship against the background of the harsh life in contemporary Guatemala.”

QUEER LION AWARD 2017

September 4, 2017: Director Anne Fontaine and lead actor Finnegan Oldfield, during the Q&A after the world premiere of the movie MARVIN [picture 1 and 2]. September 4, 2017: Jurors Brian Robinson and Rich Cline, live from the radio studios of Fred.fm [picture 3].

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

11. QUEER LION AWARD TO “MARVIN” BY ANNE FONTAINE
“Thank you very much for this award! As an heterosexual woman, I’m all the more moved and honoured .” (Anne Fontaine, director)

“Marvin is a beautiful and sensitive adaptation of an autobiographical novel by Edouard Louis, ‘Reinventing Marvin’, which charts the difficult coming of age and coming out of a young gay man in a rural village in the Vosges. The film, directed by Anne Fontaine, charts the journey of a teenage gay man, bullied at school and abused at home, who is able to become a confident, creative artist by using his own story to create art that is cathartic, inspiring and transforming. The performances of both Jules Porier and Finnegan Oldfield are outstanding as portrayals of Marvin at different stages of development in a film which is both profoundly moving and entertaining.” (Brian Robinson, president of the jury)

QUEER LION AWARD 2016

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

10. QUEER LION AWARD TO “HJARTASTEINN” BY GUÐMUNDUR ARNAR GUÐMUNDSSON
For the exquisite touch in showing the coming of age of two young friends and analyzing the acceptance of homosexual feelings and passions. For the strong and valid representation of the inner conflict that separates and then re-unites the two main characters, set against a natural environment as breathtaking as it can be hard and cruel.

QUEER LION AWARD 2015

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

9. QUEER LION AWARD TO “THE DANISH GIRL” BY TOM HOOPER

For its straightforward and honest portrayal of gender issues within a marriage, presented in a handsome production that will bring its important message to a wide audience, the 2015 Queer Lion goes to Tom Hooper for THE DANISH GIRL.

The 2015 Queer Lion jury, headed by American film critic Alonso Duralde, and composed by the creator of the award Daniel N. Casagrande, and by Marco Busato, general delegate of cultural association CinemArte, decided, to award, exceptionally, a Special Mention to Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj:

For dealing with issues such as the struggles of a young teenager to accept and understand the changes in his body, and the complicated search for his sexual identity, through the free, innocent perspective of a child, supported by a style that recalls and pays tribute to the Polish and Czechoslovakian cinematic New Waves of the 60s.

QUEER LION AWARD 2014

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

8.QUEER LION AWARD TO “LES NUITS D’ÉTÉ” BY MARIO FANFANI
The pursuit of one’s own identity is always a revolutionary act! It is so for the main character when donning women’s clothing while maintaining his bourgeois beliefs; it is so for his wife, through her emancipation and pacifistic ideals; and it is so for all the other characters, each of them in their own personal way, in a queer movie that manages to mix tradition and transgression in a very elegant way.

For these reasons, the Queer Lion jury, chaired by Alessandro Zan, and composed by Daniel N. Casagrande, creator of the award, and Marco Busato, general delegate of the cultural association CinemArte, bestows the 2014 Queer Lion Award for “Best Film with Homosexual Issues and Queer Culture” to Les nuits d’été, directed by Mario Fanfani, presentented in the 11th Giornate degli Autori/Venice Days sidebar.

The jury of the Queer Lion would like to express appreciation for the presence of a very good number of movies with LGBT contents, within the 71st International Venice Film Festival. In addition to the 7 films in competition for the Queer Lion (The Smell of Us by Larry Clark, Les nuits d’été by Mario Fanfani, The Goob by Guy Myhill, Mita Tova – The Farewell Party by Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit, Métamorphoses by Christophe Honoré, Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere by Hoàng Nguyên Diep, Pasolini by Abel Ferrara), worth of being mentioned are: The Humbling by Barry Levinson, Taipei Factory II by Hou Chi-Jan, Cho Li and Hsieh Chun-Yi, Red Amnesia by Wang Xiaoshuai, Italy in a Day by Gabriele Salvatores.

QUEER LION AWARD 2013

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

The moving Philomena presented in the Main Competition of the 70. Venice International Film Festival, won the Queer Lion Award 2013.

The jury, headed by Angelo Acerbi and composed by Queer Lion founder Daniel N. Casagrande and Marco Busato, general delegate of cultural association CinemArte, unanimously awarded the prize “For the ability of giving proper relevance to issues such as homosexuality, AIDS and homophobia in a movie focused on the painful topic of a 50 years long search for a son, and for emphasizing, with the light touch of a comedy, how an humble woman with a deep Catholic faith can show outright and loving acceptance for the essential, important aspects of the sexual identity and same-sex family of a ‘just re-discovered’ son.”

QUEER LION AWARD 2012

1) September 2012: Queer Lion Award jurors, winner and a very special guest. Left to right: Daniel N. Casagrande, Marco Busato, Daniele Coluccini, Kim Ki-duk, Matteo Botrugno, Jeon Kyu-hwan.
2) September 2012: Korean director Jeon Kyu-hwan, winner of Queer Lion Award for “The Weight”, flanked by the jury.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

69. VENICE FILM FESTIVAL: QUEER LION AWARD 2012 TO THE EXTREME “THE WEIGHT” (무게), DIRECTED BY JEON KYU-HWAN
Transgender identity, physical deformity, violence, murder, suicide, are just some of the themes of the South Korean film

Venice Days selection snags the 2012 Queer Lion Award, a collateral prize for the “best film with a homosexual and queer culture theme” at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.

The jury, headed by filmmakers Daniele Coluccini and Matteo Botrugno, and composed of Daniel N. Casagrande, the creator of the queer lion, and Marco Busato, general delegate of the cultural association CinemArte, were unanimous in their decision to bestow the award on The Weight (무게) “for skilfully conveying, in an extreme yet poetic and convincing style, an extraordinary range of themes which are often absolute taboos; and for showing, firmly and without smugness, an assortment of characters living on the edge, searching for a small corner of the world where they can live without being judged for being different.”

QUEER LION AWARD 2011

September 9, 2011: Daniel N. Casagrande live on RaiNews.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

For having crafted an extraordinary, passionate act of love for a genius through a new, dense and complex cinematic language, putting his unique charismatic figure of actor and director at full, complete disposal of Oscar Wilde’s body of work; for having traced in a strong, clear way the life, the loves, the success, the fall experienced by the Irish writer, and for having followed every step of the artistic creation of an innovative work – difficult to categorize – with wit and self-deprecating irony, CinemArte Association awards the Queer Lion 2011 to Al Pacino for his “Wilde Salomé”.

QUEER LION AWARD 2010

1) September 10, 2010: Young Argentinan director Mauro Andrizzi poses with the Queer Lion Award he received for his movie “En el futuro”, presented in the Orizzonti sidebar of the Film Festival; the award ceremony took place at Villa degli Autori.
2) September 4, 2010: Italian comedy legend Lino Banfi and daughter Rosanna, are the testimonials for Queer Lion, during the traditional live segment tv channel RaiNews dedicates to the award.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

for its simple and honest portrayal of the universe of feelings, showing their peculiarities; for the way it captures, through short episodes, the essence of how strong and natural love is, be it homo or heterosexual, the jury awards the Queer Lion 2010 to “En el futuro” by Mauro Andrizzi.

QUEER LION AWARD 2009

1) September 30, 2009: Director Tom Ford pens a thanks letter to the organizers of Queer Lion for the award received for his directorial debut “A Single Man”.
2) September 12, 2009: Director Ang Lee (“The Wedding Banquet”, “Brokeback Mountain”, “Taking Woodstock”) receives from the hands of Daniel N. Casagrande the first Career Achievement Queer Lion Award.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

The jury unanimously awards the Queer Lion 2009 to:
“A Single Man” by Tom Ford
for the formal perfection of this portrayal of a man and the dignity of his love, which reminds us of the absolute necessity of laws guaranteeing equal rights, allowing love to be lived openly in the light of day.

For the extraordinary contribution to contemporary cinema and queer culture, thanks to movies and characters that became part of our collective memory, and in particular, for having brought to the screen, in “The Wedding Banquet” and “Brokeback Mountain”, wonderful gay love stories, achieving the task of meeting the success of the audiences and critics while delivering quality products; for showing how in different times, places and cultures, the struggles to live freely and happily homosexual relationships are something of a universal common thread; and for bringing to the big screen Elliot Tiber’s life in the moving “Taking Woodstock”, CinemArte Association is pleased and deeply honoured to bestow the very first Career Achievement Queer Lion Award to Ang Lee.

QUEER LION AWARD 2008

1) September 6, 2008: Actors Chiara Francini and Antonio Merone accepting the award for “Un altro pianeta” by Stefano Tummolini, in the press conference room of the Casino Palace in Venice Lido.
2) September 1, 2008: Queer Lion jury president Tinto Brass, live on RaiNews from the terrace of Hotel Excelsior, talks about LGBT cinema.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

The jury, headed by director Tinto Brass and composed by film journalist Massimo Benvegnù and movie critic Boyd van Hoeij, gives the Queer Lion Award 2008 to: “Un altro pianeta” by Stefano Tummolini

“for the positive potrayal of a gallery of characters with their stories, hopes, secrets, getting to know, and love, and leave each other in a whirlwind of gazes, sex, body language, words, silences and music. It’s like life “on a different planet”!”

QUEER LION AWARD 2007

1) August 18, 2006: Daniel N. Casagrande, Franco Grillini and Venice Film Festival director Marco Müller, at the meeting that sees the birth of Queer Lion Award.
2) September 7, 2007: Fabio Ferzetti, director of Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days, accepting on behalf of Ed Radtke the first Queer Lion Award.

VERDICT AND MOTIVATION

The jury, headed by Andrea Occhipinti and composed by Sandro Avanzo, Simone Morandi, Vincenzo Patanè, Delia Vaccarello, gives a Special Mention to:
Sleuth by Kenneth Branagh
for the way it depicts, through the careful literary treatment of Harold Pinter that heightens the camp component of the originary text by Anthony Shaffer, the homoerotic tension between the two protagonists.

The jury gives the Queer Lion Award 2007 to the movie:
The Speed of Life by Ed Radtke
for the way it describes in a poignant way homosexual themes, even through an event happening “off screen” but that manages, yet, to affect all the characters in the movie; and for the way it sheds a light on homophobia in american culture during the last thirty years, before and after Stonewall.