The Venice Film Festival draws to a close this evening with its glamorous awards gala, and though the feeling on the ground was that the 21-title-strong main competition was a touch off the pace of recent years, still the festival is looking pretty good for an 81-year-old. Especially one who has spent the past 11 days stewing in the scorching humidity of the Lido. 

Light on the kind of genuine, potentially crossover breakouts — like Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” last year  — that sound the starter’s gun on the Oscars race in earnest, there was also some speculation about whether this year’s jury would want to skew less American in terms of their Golden Lion top pick (five of the last seven of those have gone to a US production or co-production). But that, of course, was before US director Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” emerged as the closest thing to a consensus critical pick that this edition has fielded. 

Here is where we will keep you updated live on the decisions of the main jury, headed up by Isabelle Huppert and comprising filmmakers James Gray, Andrew Haigh, Agnieszka Holland, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Abderrahmane Sissako, Giuseppe Tornatore and Julia von Heinz and actress Zhang Ziyi. And also we’ll be revealing the winners in the Horizons sidebar section, where the jury of seven (president Debra Granik, Ali Asgari, Soudade Kaadan, Christos Nikou, Tuva Novotny, Gábor Reisz, Valia Santella) made their selections from among 19 features and the Horizons Short Film program.

See the full list of Venice Film Festival award winners below:

COMPETITION
Golden Lion for Best Film: 
Grand Jury Prize: 
Silver Lion for Best Director:
Special Jury Prize: 
Best Screenplay: 
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: 
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: 
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor: 

HORIZONS
Best Film:
Best Director:
Special Jury Prize:
Best Actress: Kathleen Chalfant, “Familiar Touch”
Best Actor: Francesco Gheghi, “Familia”
Best Screenplay: Scandar Copti, “Happy Holidays”
Best Short Film: “Who Loves the Sun,” Arshia Shakiba

LION OF THE FUTURE
Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Feature: “Familiar Touch,” Sarah Friedland

HORIZONS EXTRA
Audience Award: “The Witness,” Nader Saeivar

VENICE CLASSICS
Best Documentary on Cinema: “Chain Reactions,” Alexandre O. Philippe
Best Restored Film: “Ecce Bombo,” Nanni Moretti

VENICE IMMERSIVE
Grand Jury Prize: “Ito Meikyu,” Boris Labbé
Special Jury Prize: “Oto’s Planet,” Gwenael François
Achievement Prize: “Impulse: Playing With Reality,” Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla

GIORNATE DEGLI AUTORI (announced earlier)
GdA Director’s Award: “Manas,” Marianna Brennand 
Audience Award: “Taxi Monamour,” Ciro De Caro
Europa Cinemas Label Award: “Alpha,” Jan-Willem van Ewijk

CRITICS’ WEEK (announced earlier)
Grand Prize: “Don’t Cry, Butterfly,” Dương Diệu Linh
Special Mention: “No Sleep Till,” Alexandra Simpson
Audience Award: “Paul & Paulette Take a Bath” Jethro Massey
Verona Film Club Award for Most Innovative Film: “Don’t Cry, Butterfly,” Dương Diệu Linh
Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution: “Homegrown,” Michael Premo
Best Short Film: “Things That My Best Friend Lost,” Marta Innocenti
Best Director (Short Film): “Nero Argento,” Francesco Manzato
Best Technical Contribution (Short Film): “At Least I Will Be 8 294 400 Pixel,” Marco Talarico

Israel’s multi-front wars against Hamas and Hezbollah and fears of a wider Middle East war with Iran have made support for the Jewish state an important issue in November’s presidential election.

Fox News Digital recently interviewed Israelis in the capital city of Jerusalem to see who they thought would be the better candidate in November’s election – former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

“He [Trump] has been president for four years and was an excellent president — the only president of America who brought us somewhat closer to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Mordechai told Fox News Digital from the heart of Israel’s capital city.

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Moti Stein, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, told Fox News Digital that Vice President Kamala Harris “is very good for Israel.”

He said she was “representing and maybe delivering values that are extremely important for the future of the Israeli society.”

The issue of concern for those interviewed who view the Democratic nominee as the best choice for Israel’s future is the continuation of democracy in the Jewish state.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in Washington D.C., on July 25, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu )

Jerusalem resident John Golub, who, like Stern, was at a protest against Prime Minister Netanyahu near the country’s parliament, believes Harris is the best choice for Israelis. “Kamala Harris is committed to democracy, and I think she is the candidate of the two who will help Israel realize its future as a strong liberal, democratic democracy with a strong, independent judiciary that we need.”

Other Israelis were fearful of what a Harris administration might look like for Israel. Baruch Kalman told Fox News Digital that she’s not the right “candidate to help Israel,” complaining that he felt she is “concerned more about the Gazans and Hamas than she is about Israel.”

“Of the two candidates, Trump is the better candidate,” Kalman said. “He’s already shown his support for Israel, and he’s still supporting Israel, and he keeps his word, what he says, he does.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared this photo of himself with former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on July 26, 2024.  (X/@netanyahu)

Anna Gullko said that her support for Trump is due in part to his values that help form his policies. “I think his policy will be based on biblical values, what God demands of man.”

Zvika Klein, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, one of Israel’s most read English language newspapers, recently penned an opinion piece stating why he felt that Harris was the wrong choice for Israel.

TRUMP ‘PROBABLY WINS’ IF ELECTION IS ABOUT POLICY, CNN HOST SAYS

“Kamala Harris as president, I think, is something that should worry Jews and Israelis for a number of reasons,” Klein said.

Klein believes that there is generally a large amount of respect from the Middle East for world leaders who display strength on the global stage – something that he says Harris is lacking. In contrast, he said the former president has demonstrated his support for Israel. Klein said that Trump’s track record in realizing the Abraham Accords and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem exemplify Trump’s willingness to work with Israel.

Road sign showing the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel (Hillel Maeir/TPS)

Klein cautioned that a future Trump administration will need to have skilled people who understand the region as he had during his first administration.

“The question really would be if he’s going to … actually bring back, or work with the same kind of close team he had,” Klein said. “Whether with his son-in-law Jared Kushner or David Friedman, who was the ambassador to Israel. Many people who are super knowledgeable about Israel and about the region. If those types of people actually continue to be close to the president and actually are able to affect him, that’s a good thing. And in general, the Republican Party is just so pro-Israel.”

There are up to 600,000 American citizens who live temporarily or permanently in Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing figures from the U.S. Embassy. It also noted that some half a million of those citizens could be eligible to vote in November’s election.

Ukrainian drones hit a munitions warehouse in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, whilst Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least four people and injured 105, including children, regional authorities reported early on September 7.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that 67 drones were launched over the country overnight, with air defences active in 11 regions. Fifty-eight drones were shot down, with three more destroyed by electronic weapons systems, it said.

Debris from one drone was photographed on the street outside Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Ukraine’s parliamentary press service confirmed that drone fragments had been found but said there were no casualties and no damage to the parliament building.

Elsewhere, a Russian artillery attack Saturday on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka killed three men and injured three other people, said Donetsk region Gov. Vadym Filashkin. He said the attack damaged a high-rise building and local power lines.

Late Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the death toll from the Sept. 3 strike at the Military Institute of Communications in Poltava had risen to 55, with 328 people injured.

“That includes people with severe injuries, such as amputations and internal organ damage,” Zelenskyy said, speaking at a conference outside the Italian city of Milan.

The Russian bombardment followed a week of increased long-range attacks across Ukraine, including a missile strike on a military academy and hospital on Tuesday that killed 55 and wounded hundreds.

Azov claims they regain control of Niu-York

The Russian army is also intensifying its efforts to capture the town called Niu-York near the city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine.

The infamous Azov Brigade stated they had held their position against Russian attacks in Niu-York and they claimed to have regained control of part of the settlement despite what they previously described as a “catastrophic” situation.