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DAVID DI DONATELLO 2020

The David di Donatello Awards for Best Film and Best Director go to The Traitor

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- Marco Bellocchio’s film has scooped 6 prizes, while 5 Davids went to Pinocchio and 3 to Romulus & Remus – The First King, at an unusual edition that saw candidates and winners connect from home

The David di Donatello Awards for Best Film and Best Director go to The Traitor
Marco Bellocchio accepts the David di Donatello Award for Best Film for The Traitor during the online ceremony

The first (and, one would hope, last) edition of the David di Donatello Awards to be held during the era of COVID-19 and social distancing has seen the triumph of The Traitor [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile
]
by Marco Bellocchio, upon which the jury members of the Italian Film Academy bestowed six gongs, all of which were major wins: Best Film, Best Director, Best Lead Actor (for Pierfrancesco Favino), Best Supporting Actor (Luigi Lo Cascio), Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Hosted by Carlo Conti, who was alone in a studio, and aired live on Rai1 with the candidates connecting from home via computer, the ceremony unfolded with only a few minor connection glitches. But all things considered, it progressed smoothly and swiftly – in some cases with added entertainment in the form of the winners’ children and wives bursting onto the screen during the acceptance speeches.

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The second most highly awarded film of this atypical 65th edition of the David Awards was Pinocchio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile
]
by Matteo Garrone, which snagged five technical prizes: Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Make-up, Best Costumes and Best Hair. The other movie that had been one of the favourites, Romulus & Remus – The First King [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Matteo Rovere, took home Best Cinematography (courtesy of Daniele Ciprì), Best Producer and Best Sound. As for the actresses, Best Lead Actress went to Jasmine Trinca for The Fortune Goddess [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, while Valeria Golino was crowned Best Supporting Actress for 5 Is the Perfect Number [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igort
film profile
]
. Martin Eden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile
]
by Pietro Marcello picked up a David for Best Adapted Screenplay. Best New Director was Phaim Bhuiyan for Bangla [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and the David for Best Documentary ended up going to Selfie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Agostino Ferrente. Il primo Natale [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Salvo Ficarra and Valentino Picone proved to be the most popular title among movie-goers.

Between prizes, there was a message of support and solidarity from President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella to all of the people working in show business (“Cinema is the art of dreaming, and in order to rebuild our country after this tragic epidemic, we will need to dream again”), a speech by Minister of Cultural Heritage Dario Franceschini, who promised not to leave anyone behind at this difficult time ("On Monday, I will meet with representatives of the world of film, and together we will decide upon how and when to reopen the movie theatres and sets”) and a greeting from the president of the Italian Film Academy, Piera Detassis, who reminded those watching of the Moviement Village project (see the news), which is intended to encourage viewers to flock back to watching movies on the big screen, in the open air and in compliance with safety regulations. In parallel with the Davide Awards ceremony, Anec also organised a flash mob using the hashtag #riaccendilcinema (lit. “#turnbackoncinema”): it involved Italian movie theatres turning on their signs and their screens for one evening, in order to make a statement that they are still here and are eagerly awaiting the right time to reopen.

Here is the full list of winners of the 2020 David di Donatello Awards:

Best Film
The Traitor [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile
]
- Marco Bellocchio (Italy/France/Germany/Brazil)

Best Director
Marco Bellocchio – The Traitor

Best New Director
Phaim Bhuiyan - Bangla [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]

Best Original Screenplay
Marco Bellocchio, Ludovica Rampoldi, Valia Santella, Francesco Piccolo – The Traitor

Best Adapted Screenplay
Maurizio Braucci, Pietro Marcello - Martin Eden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile
]
(Italy/France/Germany)

Best Producer
Grøenlandia, Rai Cinema, Gapbusters, Roman Citizen with Rai Cinema – Romulus & Remus – The First King [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Italy/Belgium)

Best Lead Actress
Jasmine Trinca – The Fortune Goddess [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]

Best Lead Actor
Pierfrancesco Favino – The Traitor

Best Supporting Actress
Valeria Golino - 5 Is the Perfect Number [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igort
film profile
]
(Italy/Belgium/France)

Best Supporting Actor
Luigi Lo Cascio – The Traitor

Best Cinematography
Daniele Ciprì – Romulus & Remus – The First King

Best Score
L’Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio – The Magic Flute at Piazza Vittorio [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (Italy/France)

Best Original Song
“Che Vita Meravigliosa” (words and music by Antonio Diodato, performed by Diodato) – The Fortune Goddess

Best Production Design
Dimitri Capuani - Pinocchio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile
]
(Italy/France)

Best Costumes
Massimo Cantini Parrini - Pinocchio

Best Make-up
Dalia Colli, Mark Coulier (prosthetic make-up) - Pinocchio

Best Hair
Francesco Pegoretti - Pinocchio

Best Editing
Francesca Calvelli – The Traitor

Best Sound
Angelo Bonanni, Davide D’Onofrio, Mirko Perri, Mauro Eusepi, Michele Mazzucco – Romulus & Remus – The First King

Best Visual Effects
Theo Demeris, Rodolfo Migliari - Pinocchio

Best Documentary
Selfie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Agostino Ferrente (France/Italy)

David Giovani Award
My Brother Chases Dinosaurs [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Stefano Cipani
film profile
]
– Stefano Cipani (Italy/Spain)

Viewers’ David
Il primo Natale [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 - Salvo Ficarra and Valentino Picone

Special David Award
Franca Valeri

Best Short Film
Inverno - Giulio Mastromauro

Best Foreign Film
Parasite - Bong Joon-ho (South Korea)

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(Translated from Italian)

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