“Woman Unknown,” a drama about Denmark in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation directed by May el-Toukhy, won the prestigious Golden Lion at the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
El-Toukhy was the only woman to have solely directed a film in the main competition this year.
Her film centres on a young Marie, played by Mathilde Arcel, whose Best Actress win makes it a rare double victory. Marie is a nanny and housemaid who is about to marry her wealthy employer in the immediate aftermath of the war. But she harbours a secret past intimate relationship with a German soldier that threatens to upend her reputation.
South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong’s poetic portrait of class and labour, “Possible Love,” won the Silver Lion grand jury prize, the runner-up award. “Possible Love” is Lee’s first film in eight years, following his acclaimed 2018 title “Burning.”
“NAZA,” a harrowing documentary about military strategies employed in the war in Gaza from Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, was awarded a special jury prize.
