Venice 2024: Pedro Almodovar’s ‘The Room Next Door’ bags Venice Golden Lion as Nicole Kidman takes home the Volpi Cup

Venice Film Festival 2024: Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s first English movie The Room Next Door, which tackles euthanasia and climate change, wins Golden Lion; Nicole Kidman, Vincent Lindon claim top actor awards; Brady Corbet best director for his The Brutalist

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s first English-language movie The Room Next Door, which tackles the hefty themes of euthanasia and climate change, won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday (September 7, 2024).

Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, the film received an 18-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Venice earlier in the week — one of the longest in recent memory.

Almodovar is a darling of the festival circuit and was awarded a lifetime achievement award at Venice in 2019 for his bold, irreverent and often funny Spanish-language features. He also won an Oscar in the best foreign language category for his 1999 film All About My Mother.

Now aged 74, he has decided to try his hand at English, telling reporters that it was like science fiction for him. Speaking ahead of the premiere, he said his movie highlighted the importance of cherishing life, but also made clear that people should be able to die with dignity at a time of their choosing.

“It’s a film in favour of euthanasia,” he said, criticising countries such as the United States, where so-called “mercy killing” is illegal, unlike his native Spain.

While The Room Next Door had been widely tipped to win, the runner-up Silver Lion award was a surprise, going to Italian director Maura Delpero for her slow-paced drama set in the Italian Alps during World War Two — Vermiglio.

Australia’s Nicole Kidman won the best actress award for her risque role in the erotic Babygirl, where she plays a hard-nosed CEO, who jeopardises both her career and her family by having a toxic affair with a young, manipulative intern. Kidman was in Venice on Saturday, but did not attend the awards ceremony after learning that her mother had died unexpectedly.