Venice 2012: The Fest Announces New 'Green Award' for Sustainable Films

ROME – The Green Cross of Italy and the Municipal Government of Venice announced Monday they will award a new prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, the Green Drop Award, to be given to the film in the official selection that “best interprets the values of ecology and sustainable development.”

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The prize will be selected by a jury headed by Italian film maestro Ermanno Olmi, 81, a three-time nominee for Venice’s Golden Lion award, winning it in 1988 for La leggenda del Santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker).

Olmi will already be on the Venice Lido with his latest film, Como voglio che sai il mio future? (How Do I Wish For You To Know My Future?), a film Olmi finished in conjunction with former student Maurizio Zaccaro.

Olmi was also awarded the career award for the Venice Film festival in 2008, four years after he originally declined to accept the honor.

Elio Pacilio, president of Green Cross-Italia, said the award was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the original Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The glass award will be blown by a master glassmaker in the form of a drop of water, with a sample of land inside, each year from a different part of the world. This year, the land will come from Brazil.

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Any film from the official selection will be eligible for the prize, meaning it could be a film in or out of competition or in the Horizons sidebar.