IN a move that could be seen as a strong message for women’s rights, and for the right of female filmmakers to be celebrated, the 2021 Venice Film Festival gave its top honor, the Golden Lion for best film, to Audrey Diwan’s French abortion drama “Happening.”

“I feel heard tonight!” a near-ecstatic Diwan said as she accepted her historic award.

“Happening,” an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Annie Ernaux, tells the story of a bright college student in early-1960s France who sees her emancipation threatened when she gets pregnant. With no legal options available, she tries to find a way to illegally abort.

The Venice Jury headed by South Korean director Bong Joon Ho appears to have sent a clear pro-choice message with its Golden Lion pick.

The best director honor, the Silver Lion, went to Jane Campion for her Netflix neo-Western “The Power of the Dog.” Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst, the film is Campion’s first feature in 12 years.

Italian director Pablo Sorrentino won the grand jury prize for his well-received autobiographical drama “The Hand of God,” with the film’s star, Filippo Scotti, taking the best young actor honor.

Spanish star Penelope Cruz has won Venice’s best actress honor for her performance in Pedro Almodovar’s new melodrama “Parallel Mothers.”

Maggie Gyllenhaal won the best screenplay honor for her directorial debut “The Lost Daughter.” Noting that she married and had her first child in Italy, Gyllenhaal said “my life as a director and writer was born here, in this theater,” referencing Venice’s Sala Grande. Gyllenhaal’s drama, starring Olivia Coleman, is based on the novel by Italian writer Elena Ferrante.

John Arcilla won best actor for his performance in “On the Job: The Missing 8.”

“Il Buco,” Michelangelo Frammartino’s cinematic exploration of one of the world’s deepest caves, won a special jury prize.

“Imaculat,” from Romanian directors Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark, a look at a young women who goes into drug rehab, took the Lion of the Future honor, the Luigi de Laurentis award, for best first feature.

The first prize of the evening, the Armani Beauty Audience Award, a new prize for Venice’s new Horizons Extra sidebar, went to Teemu Nikki’s “The Blind Man Who Didn’t Want to See Titanic.”

In the Horizons section, Lithuanian crime drama “Pilgrims” from director Laurynas Bareisa took the best film honor. Eric Gravel’s French drama “Full Time” won two Horizons prizes: best director for Gravel and best actress for Laure Calamy. Piseth Chhun won best actor in the Horizons section for his starring performance in Kavich Neang’s Cambodian drama “White Building.”

Ukraine director Peter Kerekes and co-screenwriter Ivan Ostrochovsky took best screenplay in the Horizons section for “107 Mothers,” while Chilean film “Los huesos,” from directors Cristobal Leon and Joaquin Cocina, won for best short.

Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s “The Great Movement” won a special jury honor.

David Adler’s “End of Night” took the best VR story prize in Venice’s VR Expanded section, while the best VR experience honor was won by “Le bal de Paris” from director Blanca Lee.

“Goliath Playing With Reality,” from directors Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, won the grand jury prize for best VR work.

(SD-Agencies)