Independent Films

Venice Film Festival

The oldest Film Festival in the world, the Venice Film Festival wrapped up September 10th with director Ang Lee taking home the top prize for his film "Brokeback Mountain" starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Receiving the Golden Lion award, Lee described his movie as a "great American love story" that is "unique and so universal." Based on a novella by "The Shipping News" author E. Annie Proulx and adapted for the screen by Larry McMurtry and Dianna Ossana, the film centers on a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy engaged in a homosexual love affair set in Wyoming and Texas in 1963.

Also recognized was was "Good Night, and Good Luck", which was directed by George Clooney, who along with co-writer Grand Heslov, won for best script. The film portrays American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, who systematically scrutinized the methods of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's quest to root out communists and their sympathizers in the 1950's.

Clooney, who besides co-writing and directing, also has a starring role in the film plays a principled CBS television producer, Fred Friendly, who later became a professor at Columbia University and encouraged a generation of journalists to ponder responsibility and ethics.

David Strathairn, who stars in the film and took the best actor award playing American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow said the movie was a reminder of the responsibility of journalists, addressing his remarks to "all of you here, and all of those who will see this movie, all of those who are out there trying to bring truth to all of us so that we can make better decisions about our lives."

The Silver Lion for directing went to Philippe Garrel for his film "Les Amants Reguliers" (The Regular Lovers), while French actress Isabelle Huppert was given a special award for her contributions to cinema, and Italian Stefania Sandrelli received a lifetime achievement award.