won the coveted Golden Lion award forbest movie at the Venice film festival Saturdayforhis film about a rural village school, ``Not One Less.''The jury, headed by Bosnian director EmirKusturica,awarded the grand prize of the jury to Iran's AbbasKiarostami for ``Le Vent Nous Emportera'' (TheWindWill Carry Us), a beautifully shot tale of a quest set inthe Kurdish part of Iran.
Another Chinese director, Zhang Yuan, won thespecialprize for directing, a new award this year, for``Seventeen Years,'' partly filmed inside aChinesejail. The Chinese authorities have censored but not officiallyrecognized the movie.
A new prize of $100,000 and 66,000 feet of filmforthe director of the best first movie shown at the Venicefestival was awarded to Giovanni Davide Madernafor``Questo e il Giardino'' (This is the Garden).
Briton Jim Broadbent won best actor for his portrayal of operetta starWilliam Gilbert in Mike Leigh's ``Topsy Turvy.'' France's NathalieBaye won best actress for her part in Belgian director FredericFonteyne's``Une Liaison Pornographique'' (A Pornographic Affair).
Veteran comic actor and director Jerry Lewis won a Golden Lion for theachievements of his career, which include films such as ``TheBellboy,'' ``GoodFellas'' and ``King of Comedy.''
``Not One Less'' tells the story of a 13-year-old girl catapulted intotherole of school mistress when the school's teacher takes a month offto tend to his sick mother.
The movie is a textbook example of Zhang's mastery at taking a humbleplot,seasoning it with realism and making it memorable. TheChinese director won a Golden Lion in 1992 for ''The Story of Qiu Ju.''
58th Golden Globe Award Winners (2001-01-22)Seinfeld Gets $40M Hamptons Home (2000-03-06)China's Zhang Yimou Wins Venice Film Festival (1999-09-12)Venice closes, Chinese movie among top tips (1999-09-12)``Funny and silly'' Jerry Lewis honoured at Venice (1999-09-12)
