Home Arts & Culture Venice Film Festival 2011 winners. Michael Fassbender won Best Actor trophy.

Venice Film Festival 2011 winners. Michael Fassbender won Best Actor trophy.

Madonna’s Wallis Simpson movie: world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

 

Michael Fassbender won the Coppa Volpi for best actor at Venice Film Festival 2011 on Saturday.

Michael Fassbender plays a man obsessed with impersonal gratification in the film “Shame” by Steve McQueen from UK.

Michael Fassbender won Best Actor trophy at Venice Film Festival 2011

Michael Fassbender won Best Actor trophy at Venice Film Festival 2011

The film, in which Michael Fassbender plays Brandon, a sex addict living in New York and also stars Carey Mulligan as his sister, was co-written by Abi Morgan, the screenwriter behind the recent BBC series “The Hours”.

Russian film “Faust”, an adaptation of Goethe’s tragedy, was named the winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday by the jury headed by director Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan” film director).

Asia put in a strong showing, the Coppa Volpi for best actress going to Deanie Yip in the film “Tao Jie” (“A Simple Life”) by Hong Kong’s Ann Hui.

And China’s Cai Shangjun was awarded with Silver Lion for best director for his film “Ren Shan Ren Hai” (“People Mountain People Sea”), which was a surprise late addition to the Venice festival lineup.

Also, Marcello Mastroianni Award for best new young actor or actress went to Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido in the film “Himizu” by Japan’s Sion Sono.

Jury’ special prize was give to “Terraferma” by Emanuele Crialese of Italy, while the Osella for the best cinematography went to Robbie Ryan for the film “Wuthering Heights” by Andrea Arnold and the Osella for best screenplay went to Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for the film “Alpis” (“Alps”).

The new British film “Wuthering Heights” is a provocative adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel set in the Yorkshire moors, directed by Andrea Arnold.

The handful of American films in competition, including George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” “Dark Horse,” “Texas Killing Fields” and “Killer Joe” were shut out.

It was also a disappointing night for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the widely acclaimed film adaptation of John le Carré’s Cold War-era novel, starring Colin Firth, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman, which failed to win an award.