British film that angered Vatican wins festival prize

A British film that was denounced by the Vatican for its portrayal of abusive Catholic nuns won the top award at the Venice Film Festival last night.

The Magdalene Sisters, by the Scottish actor-director Peter Mullan, won the Golden Lion best film prize despite Rome's criticism last week that it should not be seen as a work of art. The film is set in the 1960s in one of the Magdalene asylums in Ireland where "lapsed" women were sent to atone for their promiscuity. The film details how the women were mentally or physically abused by Catholic nuns.

Mullan, who acted in Ken Loach's My Name is Joe, had likened the nuns to Taliban extremists, and was expecting a hostile reception in Catholic countries. Once the Venice Film Festival started last week his work was quickly seen as a contender for overall winner, and audiences cheered every time one of the four girls tried to escape or rebelled against the nuns.

The Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano intervened by declaring the film an "angry and rancorous provocation" that had unfortunately been allowed to "pass as a work of art" at the festival. It accused Mullan of suggesting that the hypocrisy seen in the religious characters in his film was common to all priests.

Last night an Italian Catholic commission on performing arts claimed the jury chose the film because of its anti-Catholic content rather than on merit.

But receiving his award to loud applause at the Venice Lido, Mullan denied accusations of anti-clericalism.

"I didn't create the Magdalene Asylums, they created them. I just wanted to expose one of the great injustices of the second half of the 20th century," he said. "The film is not just about the Catholic Church and how they repress young women in Ireland, it's about all faiths that think they have the right to pressure women.

"But if they can free themselves in their minds, they can start to fight back."

Mullan, who was previously praised as a director for his bleak film Orphans, spent three and a half years trying to get The Magdalene Sisters made. Expecting "minor acts of sabotage" in Ireland, he shot the film in Scotland but the production was still dogged by problems. The financing threatened to collapse and Mullan had to put in £17,000 of his own money to prevent it being closed down after the first week. He had already deferred 50 per cent of his fee for writing and directing the film.

Yesterday's runner-up prize, the Jury Grand Prix, was awarded to Dom Durakov (House of Fools), a film by the Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky that focuses on the stories of inmates in a psychiatric hospital in Chechnya who are unaware of the looming war with Russia.

Julianne Moore won best actress for her role as a perfect 1950s American housewife whose life falls apart in Far from Heaven and the Italian Stefano Accorsi took home the prize for best actor for his portrayal of poet Dino Campana in Un Viaggio Chiamato Amore (A Journey Called Love).

A total of 21 films were in the running for the Golden Lion at the 59th staging of the world's oldest film festival.

Venice Festival Award Winners

Golden Lion for Best Film: The Magdalene Sisters,directed by Peter Mullan, Britain

Jury Grand Prix: House of Fools, directed by Andrej Konchalovsky,Russia/France

Special Director's Award: Lee Chang-dong, Oasis, South Korea

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven, US

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor: Stefano Accorsi, A Voyage Called Love, Italy

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Moon So-ri, Oasis, South Korea

Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution: Cinematographer Edward Lachman, Far From Heaven, US

Silver Lion for Best Short Film: Clown, directed by Irina Efteeva, Russia

UIP prize for Best European Short Film: Lover of Pirates, directed by Zsofia Peterffy, Hungary