Feature: Viewers try guess on Golden Lion ahead of Venice Int'l Film Festival closing

A day before the closing of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday, views on Friday were different at the Lido of Venice about which film will be awarded the Golden Lion.

"I guess the Golden Lion would be for 11 Minutes, Silver Lion for Francofonia and Special Jury Prize for Rabin, the Last Day," Marco Romagna, a cinema critic and founder of the CineLapsus blog, told Xinhua.

In 11 Minutes by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, a chain of events involving a jealous husband, his actress wife, a drug messenger, a hot dog vendor, a troubled student, a high-rise window cleaner, a paramedics team, a group of nuns and other characters, seal many fates in a mere 11 minutes.

A totally different and true story, Francofonia by Russian director Alexander Sokurov narrates how two men during World War II, Louvre director Jacques Jaujard and Nazi Occupation officer Count Franziskus Wolff-Metternich, were able to preserve the Louvre's great art collection.

Enemies then collaborators, these two not very influential men of almost the same age shared a strong vocation to protect works of art.

Rabin, The Last Day by Israeli director Amos Gitai is a tribute to Nobel Peace Prize winner Yitzhak Rabin on the 20th anniversary of his death. The hearings of the Shamgar Commission, set up to investigate the assassination of the Israeli prime minister, play a central role in the film.

"I think that Rabin, the Last Day could win the Golden Lion, although I would prefer Beasts of No Nation to win," agreed a cinema passionate, Alberto Guizzardi, member of a local cultural circle.

Beasts of No Nation by American director Cary Fukunaga follows the loss of innocence of Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African country, whose happy childhood is shattered when army troops from the capital city arrive to squelch a rebellion against the country's corrupt regime and force Agu to become a soldier.

In Guizzardi's view, the Silver Lion could go to From Afar, the feature debut from Venezuelan writer-director Lorenzo Vigas. Set in Caracas' chaotic lower class communities, Vigas' turbulent story reveals the complex bond between two men worlds apart.

"The Special Jury Prize could be for Francofonia," he also added.

"I think that a film centered on political or social themes could win the Golden Lion this edition. However, it is never possible to tell. The festival's jury always makes unpredictable choices," he concluded.

"I think the jury may award the Golden Lion to Rabin, the Last Day. And the Silver Lion could go to The Danish Girl," Maria Turchetto, a jury member of an independent award at the festival named Uaar, told Xinhua.

The Danish Girl is a highly unusual love story inspired by the real life of Danish painter Einar Wegener, who underwent a series of pioneer operations in the early 1930s to become Lili Elbe, and his wife Gerda Wegener, who found the courage to support her husband in his choice to be a woman.

Heart of a Dog, centered on the rat terrier of American director Laurie Anderson, and Remember, the story of a man who discovers that the Nazi guard who murdered his family is living in America, directed by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, were also cited by some viewers as possible winners.

The 72nd Venice International Film Festival runs at the Lido of Venice on Sept. 2-12. A total of 21 films strive for the prizes awarded by the festival's international jury chaired this year by Mexican film director Alfonso Cuaron.

The Venice International Film Festival, whose first edition was held in 1932, enjoys the distinction of the oldest film festival in the world. The Golden Lion is considered one of the most prestigious film awards globally, like the Golden Palm in Cannes and the Golden Bear of Berlin. Endit