20th Venice International Film Festival

The 20th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 23 August to 6 September 1959.

20th Venice International Film Festival

Location	Venice, Italy
Founded	1932
Awards	Golden Lion: The Great War General della Rovere
Festival date	23 August – 6 September 1959
Website	Website

Italian film critic Luigi Chiarini was the Jury President for the main competition. The Golden Lion was awarded to The Great War directed by Mario Monicelli and General della Rovere directed by Roberto Rossellini.

Jury

• Luigi Chiarini, Italian - Jury President
• Georges Altman, French journalist
• Sergei Bondarchuk, Soviet filmmaker and actor
• Ralph Forte, American
• Ernst Kruger, German
• Roger Maxwell, British actor
• Vinicio Marinucci, Italian
• Luis Gómez Mesa, Spanish
• Dario Zanelli, Italian

Official Sections

Main Competition

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Anatomy of a Murder		Otto Preminger	United States
Conflagration	炎上	Kon Ichikawa	Japan
The Boy and the Bridge		Kevin McClory	United Kingdom
Double Agents	La nuit des espions	Robert Hossein	France
Esterina		Carlo Lizzani	Italy
General Della Rovere	Il generale Della Rovere	Roberto Rossellini	Italy
The Great War	La grande guerra	Mario Monicelli
Life in Your Hands	В твоих руках жизнь	Nikolai Rozantsev	Soviet Union
The Magician	Ansiktet	Ingmar Bergman	Sweden
Night Train	Pociąg	Jerzy Kawalerowicz	Poland
Sleepless Years	Álmatlan évek	Félix Máriássy	Hungary
Sonatas		Juan Antonio Bardem	Spain
Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?	Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben	Frank Wisbar	West Germany
Web of Passion	À double tour	Claude Chabrol	France

Official Awards

• Golden Lion:
  • The Great War by Mario Monicelli
  • General della Rovere by Roberto Rossellini
• Special Jury Prize: The Magician by Ingmar Bergman
• Volpi Cup for Best Actor: James Stewart for Anatomy of a Murder
• Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Madeleine Robinson for Web of Passion
• Volpi Cup Special Mention:
  • Carla Gravina for Esterina
  • Lucyna Winnicka for Night Train
  • Hannes Messemer for General della Rovere
  • Alberto Sordi for The Great War

Independent Awards

New Cinema Award

• The Magician by Ingmar Bergman

FIPRESCI Prize

• Ashes and Diamonds by Andrzej Wajda

OCIC Award

• General della Rovere by Roberto Rossellini

Pasinetti Award

• The Magician by Ingmar Bergman
• Parallel Sections: Come Back, Africa by Lionel Rogosin

External links

• Official website
• Venice Film Festival 1959 Awards on IMDb