ROME — Paolo Virzi’s The Human Capital (Il capitale umano) won the David di Donatello Award for best film, while Paolo Sorrentino won best director for his work on Oscar winner The Great Beauty (La grande belezza).
The Human Capital and The Great Beauty dominated the nominations, with 19 and 18, respectively, and both left the show highly decorated.
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But it was 79-year-old diva Sophia Loren who stole the show. As in Cannes, she was honored for her work in The Human Voice (La voce umana), a short film directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti, who earned most of the attention. Italian president Giorio Napolitano kissed her hand as she entered the auditorium, and she triggered the loudest round of applause when she accepted her prize.
The Donatellos, one of Italy three main film awards, previously gave Loren a career honor in 1999 and she won seven acting prizes between 1959 and 1979.
The Human Capital ended the evening with seven awards, with Virzi, Francesco Piccolo and Francesco Bruni taking home the award for best screenplay for their story of how a chance roadside accident impacts two families. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi — sister of former French first lady Carla Bruni — won the best actress prize and Fabrizio Gifuni and former Rainman actress Valeria Golino won the awards for supporting actor and actress.
The Great Beauty took home nine awards, including the prizes for production for Indigo Film and for photography, while male lead Toni Servillo won his fourth Donatello for best actor.
Among other award winners, Pierfrancesco Diliberto won the honor for best emerging actor for The Mafia Only Kills in Summer (La mafia uccide solo d’estate), while Stephen Frears‘ Philomena won the prize for best European film and Wes Anderson‘s Grand Budapest Hotel won for best foreign film.
Twitter: @EricJLyman
