Turkish director wins at Venice Film Festival

VENICE, Italy (AA) – Turkish director Reha Erdem received the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival, organizers announced Saturday.

Erdem’s tenth feature-length film, Koca Dunya (Big, Big World), centers on the story of an orphaned brother and sister who are on edge to enter real world.

“Ali and Zuhal take their first step into this big world committing a crime and it becomes impossible for them to live among people. A boy and a girl that were thrown out of the civilized world would live the entire human story from scratch,” according to the movie’s plot.

Filipino independent filmmaker Lav Diaz won the best film award for Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left) at the 73rd Venice Film Festival. The jury was headed by British director Sam Mendes.

Best director was shared by Amat Escalante of Mexico for La Region Salvaje and Andrei Konchalovsky of Russia for Paradise.

American actress Emma Stone took the top female prize for her role in La La Land that was directed by Damien Chazelle.

On the men’s side, Oscar Martinez of Argentina won for his role in El Ciudadano Ilustre by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn.