Film director Sofia Coppola took home the top prize at the Venice International Film Festival, receiving it from her former boyfriend Quentin Tarantino. She said she was very proud to win the award and thanked her father for teaching her.
Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, a comic drama about a bad-boy actor who's stumbling through a life of Hollywood excess, until his adolescent daughter comes to live with him, won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice International Film Festival.
Coppola based Somewhere on her own upbringing as the daughter of film director Francis Ford Coppola. Somewhere is set almost entirely in hotels and on the road. The film made its world premiere in Venice. Coppola was thrilled with the award.
"I'm so proud, I can't believe it, they said maybe you'll get a prize, I can't believe it, I'm very proud and excited for our film," she said.
Coppola herself grew up in the world of film thanks to her father, director Francis Ford Coppola. When presenting the film, Coppola reminisced that she and her family spent a lot of time growing up in hotels where her father was out on location while filming.
She said her father loved the film and thanked him for teaching her as she received the award.
Other awards included the Silver Lion for best director, which went to Alex de la Iglesia for his Balada triste de Trompeta (A Sad Trumpet Ballad). The Spanish director also won the best screenplay award for the film.
The top actor award was given to Vincent Gallo, who played a terror suspect plotting his escape in Essential Killing. Best actress honors were awarded to Ariana Lebed, a Greek actress who discovers herself through her friendships, in the film Attenberg.
