# 61st Venice International Film Festival

The 61st annual Venice International Film Festival was the 2004 edition of the Venice International Film Festival, held between 1 and 11 September 2004. The festival opened with Steven Spielberg's The Terminal, and closed with Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy. The Golden Lion was awarded to Vera Drake, directed by Mike Leigh.
On this edition, a new independent section, Venice Days (Giornate degli autori), was created "for free cinema, new talents and new stories". This section is organized by the ANAC (National Association of Cinematographic Authors) and the API (Independent Authors & Producers).
Also in this edition, The Secret History of Italian Cinema was launched, a new official retrospective section, with the aim of restoring and systematically rediscovering sides of the Italian cinema that have been "forgotten, invisible, unknown or misunderstood". The retrospective was planned for the following four editions (61st to 64th editions), later was extended with the These Phantoms: Italian Cinema Rediscovered (65th edition), and the Italian Comedy Retrospective (66th edition). The Fondazione Prada was the main sponsor/partner of this section.

## Juries

The following people comprised the 2004 juries:

### Main Competition (Venezia 61)

* John Boorman, British filmmaker - Jury President
* Wolfgang Becker, German filmmaker
* Mimmo Calopresti, Italian director
* Hsu Feng, Taiwanese actress and producer
* Scarlett Johansson, American actress
* Spike Lee, American filmmaker, actor and producer
* Dusan Makavejev, Serbian filmmaker
* Helen Mirren, British actress
* Pietro Scalia, Italian editor

### Horizons (Orizzonti)

* Nicolas Philibert, French director - Jury President
* Brian Helgeland, American director
* Fiorella Infascelli, Italian director

### Venezia Cinema Digitale

* Mike Figgis, British filmmaker and composer - Jury President
* Shozo Ichiyama, Japanese film producer
* Claire Simon, French filmaker

## Official Sections
### In Competition

The main competitive section of the official selection is an international competition of feature films running for the Golden Lion.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| 3-Iron | 빈집 | Kim Ki-duk | South Korea, Japan |
| 5x2 | Cinq fois deux | François Ozon | France |
| Another Life | Ovunque sei | Michele Placido | Italy |
| Birth | Birth | Jonathan Glazer | United States |
| Café Lumière | 珈琲時光 | Hou Hsiao-hsien | Japan, Taiwan |
| Delivery | Delivery | Nikos Panayotopoulos | Greece |
| Howl's Moving Castle | ハウルの動く城 | Hayao Miyazaki | Japan |
| The Intruder | L'intrus | Claire Denis | France |
| The Keys to the House | Le chiavi di casa | Gianni Amelio | Italy, France, Germany |
| Kings and Queen | Rois et reine | Arnaud Desplechin | France |
| Land of Plenty | Land of Plenty | Wim Wenders | United States |
| Low Life | 하류인생 | Im Kwon-taek | South Korea |
| One Long Winter Without Fire † | Tout un hiver sans feu | Greg Zglinski | Switzerland |
| Palindromes | Palindromes | Todd Solondz | United States |
| Promised Land | הארץ המובטחת | Amos Gitai | Israel, France |
| Remote Access | Удалённый доступ | Svetlana Proskurina | Russia |
| The Sea Inside | Mar adentro | Alejandro Amenábar | Spain, France, Italy |
| Stray Dogs | Sag-haye velgard | Marzieh Meshkini | Iran, France, Afghanistan |
| Vanity Fair | Vanity Fair | Mira Nair | United Kingdom, United States |
| Vera Drake | Vera Drake | Mike Leigh | United Kingdom |
| Working Slowly (Radio Alice) | Lavorare con lentezza | Guido Chiesa | Italy |
| The World | 世界 | Jia Zhangke | China |
    Highlighted title indicates the Golden Lion winner.
    † indicates films that competed for the Lion of the Future.

### Out of Competition

The following films of the official selection were screened as "out of competition":
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| The Bridesmaid | La demoiselle d'honneur | Claude Chabrol | France, Italy, Germany |
| Collateral | Collateral | Michael Mann | United States |
| Eros | Eros | Michelangelo Antonioni, Steven Soderbergh, Wong Kar-wai | France, Hong Kong, Italy, United States |
| The Fifth Empire | O quinto imperio | Manoel de Oliveira | Portugal, France |
| Finding Neverland | Finding Neverland | Marc Forster | United States |
| How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio | Come inguaiammo il cinema italiano | Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco | Italy |
| An Italian Romance | L'amore ritrovato | Carlo Mazzacurati | Italy |
| The Manchurian Candidate | The Manchurian Candidate | Jonathan Demme | United States |
| The Merchant of Venice | The Merchant of Venice | Michael Radford | United Kingdom, Italy |
| The Remains of Nothing | Il resto di niente | Antonietta De Lillo | Italy |
| She Hate Me | She Hate Me | Spike Lee | United States |
| Steamboy (closing film) | スチームボーイ | Katsuhiro Otomo | Japan |
| The Terminal (opening film) | The Terminal (opening film) | Steven Spielberg | United States |
| Throw Down | 柔道龍虎榜 | Johnnie To | Hong Kong |
| The Tuner | Настройщик | Kira Muratova | Russia, Ukraine |
| Special Event ||||
| Shark Tale | Shark Tale | Victoria Jenson, Bibo Bergeron | United States |

### Horizons (Orizzonti)

A section aiming to provide a picture of the new trends in cinema.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| In Competition ||||
| The 3 Rooms of Melancholia | Melancholian 3 huonetta | Pirjo Honkasalo | Finland, Sweden, Denmark |
| Agnes and His Brothers | Agnes und seine Brüder | Oskar Roehler | Germany |
| Ambasadori, cautam patrie | Ambasadori, cautam patrie | Mircea Daneliuc | Romania |
| Criminal † | Criminal † | Gregory Jacobs | United States |
| Gilles' Wife | La femme de Gilles | Frédéric Fonteyne | Belgium, France, Luxembourg |
| The Grand Sons | Les petits fils | Ilan Duran Cohen | France |
| I Can See It in Your Eyes † | Te lo leggo negli occhi | Valia Santella | Italy |
| Izo | Izo | Takashi Miike | Japan |
| A Less Bad World | Un mundo menos peor | Alejandro Agresti | Argentina |
| A Love Song for Bobby Long † | A Love Song for Bobby Long † | Shainee Gabel | United States |
| Mysterious Skin | Mysterious Skin | Gregg Araki | United States, Netherlands |
| Rolling Family | Familia rodante | Pablo Trapero | Argentina, Spain |
| Saimir † | Saimir † | Francesco Munzi | Italy |
| The Sleeping Child † | L'enfant endormi | Yasmine Kassari | Morocco, Belgium |
| Stryker | Stryker | Noam Gonick | Canada |
| They Came Back † | Les revenants | Robin Campillo | France |
| Vento di terra | Vento di terra | Vincenzo Marra | Italy |
| Vital | ヴィタール | Shinya Tsukamoto | Japan |
| Yesterday | Yesterday | Darrell Roodt | South Africa |
| Zulu Love Letter | Lettre d'amour zoulou | Ramadan Suleman | South Africa, France, Germany |
| Special Events ||||
| L’ami y’a bon | L’ami y’a bon | Rachid Bouchareb | France, Algeria, Germany |
| Come Back, Africa (1959) | Come Back, Africa (1959) | Lionel Rogosin | United States |
| The Hamburg Cell | The Hamburg Cell | Antonia Bird | United Kingdom |
| Heimat 3: A Chronicle of Endings and Beginning (6 episodes) | Heimat 3 - Chronik einer Zeitenwende | Edgar Reitz | Germany |
| Música cubana | Música cubana | German Kral | Germany |
| Tell Them Who You Are | Tell Them Who You Are | Mark S. Wexler | United States |
| Tide Table | Tide Table | William Kentridge | South Africa |
    Highlighted title indicates the Horizons Awards for Best Film.
    † indicates films that competed for the Lion of the Future.

### Short Film Competition (Corto Cortissimo)

The following films, whose length does not exceed 30 minutes, were selected for the Short Film Competition (Corto Cortissimo):
| Title | Director(s | Production country |
| In competition |||
| A occhi aperti | Lorenza Indovina | Italy |
| Agna niata | Ektoras Lyghizos | Greece |
| Aïsha | Newton I. Aduaka | Nigeria, Senegal |
| The Arsonist | Myles Sorensen | United States |
| The Carpenter and his Clumsy Wife | Peter Foott | Ireland |
| Chamaco | Tim Parsa | Mexico |
| Close | Tom Hopkins | Ireland |
| La culpa del alpinista | Daniel Sánchez Arévalo | Spain |
| Dim | Ann-Kristin Wecker | Germany |
| Il dio della pioggia | Angelo Amoroso D'Aragona | Italy |
| Goodbye | Steve Hudson | Germany |
| Határontúl | Árpád Schilling | Hungary |
| Last Night | Sean Mewshaw | United States |
| Moustache | Vicki Sugars | Australia |
| Passatempo | Francesco Lagi | Italy |
| A piscina | Iana Joao Viana | Portugal |
| Rain Is Falling | Holger Ernst | Germany, Morocco |
| Resurrection | Mitchell Lichtenstein | United States |
| Shengri | Bertrand Lee | Singapore |
| Signe d'appartenance | Kamel Cherif | Belgium, Tunisia |
| Silent Companion | Elham Hosseinzade | Iran |
| Sous le bleu | David Oelhoffen | France |
| Srce je kos Mesa (aka The Heart Is a Piece of Meat) | Jan Cvitkovic | Slovenia |
| Streets | Jon Howe | United Kingdom |
| Trofast | Trond Fausa Aurvaag | Norway |
| White on Blue | Ramunas Greicius | Lithuania |
| Out of Competition |||
| Coleridge's Couch | Angeles Woo | United States |
| Special Events 1 - Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia: Scuola Nazionale di Cinema |||
| Il potere sottile | Diego Ronsisvalle | Italy |
| Special Events - Ipotesi Cinema: Bologna |||
| Postazioni della memoria | Ermanno Olmi and the students of Ipotesi Cinema | Italy |
| Special Events 2 - Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia: Scuola Nazionale di Cinema |||
| I gabbiani - studio su "Il gabbiano" di Anton Cecov | Francesca Archibugi | Italy |
| Special Events 3 - Corto d'autore: Italia |||
| Too Short for Sky | Pappi Corsicato | Italy |
| Body & Soul | Theo Eshetu | Italy |
| Corpo/Immagine | Marco Puccioni | Italy |
    Highlighted title indicates Lion for Best Short Film winner.

### Venetian Nights

The following films were screened for the Venetian Nights section (Venezia Mezzanotte):
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| The Art of Losing | Perder es cuestión de método | Sergio Cabrera | Colombia, Spain |
| Enduring Love | Enduring Love | Roger Michell | United Kingdom |
| Eyes of Crystal | Occhi di cristallo | Eros Puglielli | Italy |
| A Home at the End of the World † | A Home at the End of the World † | Michael Mayer | United States |
| Howrah Bridge / The Youth of the Land | Yuva | Mani Ratnam | India |
| Man on Fire | Man on Fire | Tony Scott | United States |
| Puteri Gunung Ledang | Puteri Gunung Ledang | Saw Teong Hin | Malaysia |
| Three... Extremes | 三更2 / 쓰리, 몬스터 / 美しい夜、残酷な朝 | Park Chan-Wook, Takashi Miike, Fruit Chan | Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan |
| To Sleep Next To Her † | Volevo solo dormirle addosso | Eugenio Cappuccio | Italy |
| Titanus's one hundredth year ||||
| The Demon | Il demonio (1963) | Brunello Rondi | Italy |
    † indicates films that competed for the Lion of the Future.

### Venice Digital Cinema

A section intended to provide an overview of the new expressive possibilities granted by digital technologies.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| 20 Fingers † | 20 angosht | Mania Akbari | Iran, United Kingdom |
| Impermanence | Impermanence | Goutam Ghose | India |
| The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish | The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish | Peter Greenaway | United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Luxembourg |
| Cuoco contadino | Cuoco contadino | Luca Guadagnino | Italy |
| Homecoming | Homecoming | Jon Jost | United States |
| Letters to Ali | Letters to Ali | Clara Law | Australia |
| La vita è breve ma la giornata è lunghissima | La vita è breve ma la giornata è lunghissima | Lucio Pellegrini, Gianni Zanasi | Italy |
| Pin Boy | Parapalos | Ana Poliak | Argentina |
| Un silenzio particolare | Un silenzio particolare | Stefano Rulli | Italy |
| Marebito | 稀人 | Takashi Shimizu | Japan |
| Special Events ||||
| L'ora della lucertola | L'ora della lucertola | Mimmo Calopresti | Italy |
| Bellissime | Bellissime | Giovanna Gagliardo | Italy |
| Killer Shrimps † | Killer Shrimps † | Piero Golia | Switzerland |
| The Take | The Take | Avi Lewis | Canada |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | ファイナルファンタジーVII アドベントチルドレン, | Tetsuya Nomura | Japan |
| Embedded | Embedded | Tim Robbins | United States |
| Colpi di Luce | Colpi di Luce | Matteo Spinola, Stefano della Casa, Francesca Calvelli | Italy |
| Digital Africa ||||
| Yizo Yizo | Yizo Yizo | Angus Gibson, Andrew Dosunmu, Teboho Mahlatsi | South Africa |
    † indicates films that competed for the Lion of the Future.

### Retrospective - The Secret History of Italian Cinema 1

A new retrospective section on Italian Cinema aiming to restore and systematically rediscover sides of the Italian cinema That Have Been "Forgotten, Invisible, Unknown Or Misunderstood". This first edition of the retrospective is titled Italian Kings of the B's.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Italian Kings of the B's ||||
| 100 Horsemen (1961) | I cento cavalieri | Vittorio Cottafavi | Italy, Spain, West Germany |
| The Beyond (1981) | ...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà | Lucio Fulci | Italy |
| The Big Gundown (1966) | La resa dei conti | Sergio Sollima | Italy, Spain |
| Blindman (1972) | Il pistolero cieco | Ferdinando Baldi | Italy, United States |
| The Boss (1973) | Il Boss | Fernando Di Leo | Italy |
| A Bullet for the General (1967) | Quien sabe? | Damiano Damiani | Italy |
| Caliber 9 (1972) | Milano calibro 9 | Fernando Di Leo | Italy |
| Cannibal Holocaust (1979) | Cannibal Holocaust (1979) | Ruggero Deodato | Italy |
| Castle of Blood (1964) | Danza macabra | Antonio Margheriti | Italy, France |
| Coup D'État (1969) | Colpo di stato | Luciano Salce | Italy |
| Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) | Non si sevizia un paperino | Lucio Fulci | Italy |
| The Dynamite Brothers (1949) | I fratelli Dinamite | Nino and Toni Pagot | Italy |
| The God Snake (1970) | Il dio serpente | Piero Vivarelli | Italy, Venezuela |
| Goliath and the Dragon (1960) | La vendetta di Ercole | Vittorio Cottafavi | Italy, France |
| Col cuore in gola (1967) | Col cuore in gola (1967) | Tinto Brass | Italy, France |
| The Inglorious Bastards (1977) | Quel maledetto treno blindato | Enzo G. Castellari | Italy |
| The Italian Connection (1972) | La mala ordina | Fernando Di Leo | Italy, West Germany |
| Mister Scarface (1976) | I padroni della citta | Fernando Di Leo | Italy, West Germany |
| Naked Violence (1969) | I ragazzi del massacro | Fernando Di Leo | Italy |
| Orgasm (1969) | Orgasmo | Umberto Lenzi | Italy, France |
| The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1970) | Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh | Sergio Martino | Italy, Spain, Austria |
| The Syndicate: A Death in the Family (1969) | Colpo rovente | Piero Zuffi | Italy |
| Tragic Ceremony (1972) | Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea | Riccardo Freda | Italy, Spain |
| The Trojan Horse (1961) | La guerra di Troia | Giorgio Ferroni | Italy, France, Yugoslavia |
| W la foca (1982) | W la foca (1982) | Nando Cicero | Italy |
| Underground Italia - Shards of utopia ||||
| La verifica incerta (1964) | La verifica incerta (1964) | Gianfranco Baruchello, Alberto Grifi | Italy |
| Transfert per kamera verso Virulentia (1975) | Transfert per kamera verso Virulentia (1975) | Alberto Grifi | Italy |
| The Blind Fly (1966) | A mosca cieca | Romano Scavolini | Italy |
| Portrait of Gianfranco Barucchello | Ritratto di Gianfranco Barucchello | Paolo Brunatto | Italy |
| Portrait of Alberto Grifi | Ritratto di Alberto Grifi | Paolo Brunatto | Italy |
| Portrait of Romano Scovolini | Ritratto di Romano Scovolini | Paolo Brunatto | Italy |

## Independent Sections
### Venice International Film Critics' Week

The following feature films were selected to be screened as In Competition for this section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| In Competition ||||
| From Land of Silence | Sakenine Sarzamine Sokoot | Saman Salur | Iran |
| The Great Journey | Le Grand Voyage | Ismaël Ferroukhi | France |
| Les liens | Les liens | Aymeric Mesa-Juan | France |
| One or the Other | Una de dos | Alejo Hernán Taube | Argentina |
| Otakus in Love | 恋の門 | Suzuki Matsuo | Japan |
| To Take a Wife | Ve Lakachta Lecha Isha | Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz | Israel, France |
| Uninhibited | Kuang Fang | Leste Chen | Taiwan |
| Out of Competition ||||
| P.S. (opening film) | P.S. (opening film) | Dylan Kidd | United States |
| Butterfly | Hu die | Yan Yan Mak | China |
| The Love (Part One) | El Amor (Primera Parte) | Alejandro Fadel, Martin Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Juan Schnitman | Argentina |

### Venice Days

The following films were selected for the 1st edition of Venice Days (Giornate Degli Autori) autonomous section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| 4 | 4 | Ilya Khrzhanovsky | Russia, Netherlands |
| Caro Vittorio | Caro Vittorio | Marco Risi | Italy |
| Changing Destiny | Nemmeno il destino | Daniele Gaglianone | Italy |
| Darwin's Nightmare | Darwin's Nightmare | Hubert Sauper | Austria, Belgium, France, Germany |
| Dead Man's Shoes | Dead Man's Shoes | Shane Meadows | United Kingdom |
| Il giorno del falco | Il giorno del falco | Rodolfo Bisatti | Italy |
| L'imperatore di Roma | L'imperatore di Roma | Nico D'Alessandria | Italy |
| In Kurdistan e' difficile | In Kurdistan e' difficile | Giuliana Gamba | Italy |
| Morasseix | Morasseix | Damien Odoul | France |
| Murmuring Coast | A costa dos murmúrios | Margarida Cardoso | Portugal |
| Now and Then | L'oeil de l'autre | John Lvoff | France |
| Strings | Strings | Anders Rønnow Klarlund | Denmark, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom |
| Suburbs | Predmestje | Vinko Möderndorfer | Slovenia |
| Sweet Jam | Confituur | Lieven Debrauwer | Belgium, Switzerland |
| Tartarughe sul dorso | Tartarughe sul dorso | Stefano Pasetto | Italy |

## Official Awards

The following Official Awards were conferred at the 61st edition:

### In Competition (Venezia 61)

* Golden Lion: Vera Drake by Mike Leigh
* Silver Lion for Best Director: 3-Iron by Kim Ki-duk
* Grand Jury Prize: The Sea Inside by Alejandro Amenábar
* Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Javier Bardem for The Sea Inside
* Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake
* Marcello Mastroianni Award: Tommaso Ramenghi and Marco Luisi for Working Slowly (Radio Alice)
* Golden Osella: Studio Ghibli for Howl's Moving Castle

### Golden Lion for lifetime achievement

* Manoel de Oliveira and Stanley Donen

### Horizons (Orizzonti)

* Best Film: The Grand Sons by Ilan Duran Cohen
** Special mention: Vento di terra by Vincenzo Marra

### Digital Cinema Award

* 20 Fingers by Mania Akbari
** Special Mention: La vita è breve ma la giornata è lunghissima by Gianni Zanasi and Lucio Pellegrini

### Short Film Competition (Corto Cortissimo)

* Citroen Short Super-Short Lion for Best Short Film: Signe d'appartenence by Kamel Cherif
** Special mention: The Carpenter and His Clumsy Wife by Peter Foot
* UIP Prize for Best European Short Film: Goodbye by Steve Hudson

### "Luigi de Laurentis" Award For A Debut Film (Lion of the Future)

* Le Grand Voyage by Ismaël Ferroukhi and Humbert Balsan
** Special Mention: Saimir by Francesco Munzi

## Independents Awards

The following collateral awards were conferred to films of the official selection:

### Venice International Film Critics' Week

* Audience Award:To Take a Wife by Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz

### FIPRESCI Prize

* Competition: 3-Iron by Kim Ki-duk
* Parallel Sections: Vento di terra by Vincenzo Marra

### SIGNS Award

* One Long Winter Without Fire by Greg Zglinski
* Honorable Mention: 3-Iron by Kim Ki-duk

### C.I.C.A.E. Award

* Gilles' Wife by Frédéric Fonteyne

### UNICEF Award

* House of Fools by Andrei Konchalovsky

### UNESCO Award

* Land of Plenty by Wim Wenders

### Pasinetti Award

* Best Film: The Keys to the House by Gianni Amelio
* Best Actor: Kim Rossi Stuart for The Keys to the House
* Best Actress: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi for 5x2

### Isvema Award

* To Take a Wife by Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz

### FEDIC Award

* To Sleep Next To Her by Eugenio Cappuccio

### Little Golden Lion

* 3-Iron by Kim Ki-duk

### Venice Days - Label Europa Cinemas

* Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper

### Young Cinema Award

* Best Italian Film: Nemmeno il destino by Daniele Gaglianone
* Best Digital Film: Un silenzio particolare by Stefano Rulli
* Best International Film: The Sea Inside by Alejandro Amenábar

### "Lino Miccichè" First Feature Award

* Nemmeno il destino by Daniele Gaglianone

### Open Prize

* Strays Dogs by Marzieh Makhmalbaf

### Lina Mangiacapre Award

* The 3 Rooms of Melancholia by Pirjo Honkasalo

### Future Film Festival Digital Award

* Collateral by Michael Mann

### Laterna Magica Prize

* Finding Neverland by Marc Forster

### Sergio Trasatti Award

* The Keys to the House by Gianni Amelio

### CinemAvvenire Award

* Best Film: The Keys to the House by Gianni Amelio
* Best First Film: One Long Winter Without Fire by Greg Zglinski
* Cinema for Peace Award: Promised Land by Amos Gitai

### Award of the City of Rome

* Best Film: A Less Bad World by Alejandro Agresti

### International Peace Award

* Best Film: Jeruzalemski sindrom by Jakov Sedlar

### Human Rights Film Network Award

* The 3 Rooms of Melancholia by Pirjo Honkasalo

### EIUC Award

* Yesterday by Darrell Roodt
** Special Mention: The 3 Rooms of Melancholia by Pirjo Honkasalo

### Special Director's Award

* 3-Iron by Kim Ki-duk

### Special Pasinetti Award

* Vento di terra by Vincenzo Marra (For an innovative film)