Matteo Garrone swept Italy’s 72nd Silver Ribbon (Nastro d’argenti) Awards Saturday night with his latest film Dogman, about a gentle dog groomer outside Naples who gets wrapped up in a violent plot with a dangerous boxer. The film beat out other nominees for best picture, including Call Me By Your Name, A Ciambra, Happy as Lazzaro and Loro.
At the ceremony, held at the Ancient Theater of Taormina in Sicily, Dogman took home eight honors in total, including best director, best producer (Garrone along with Paolo Del Brocco for Archimedes and Rai Cinema), best set design, best sound, best editing, best casting and best leading actors for Marcello Fonte and Edoardo Pesce.
Marcello Fonte memorably took home the best actor prize in Cannes this year, where the film premiered in competition.
Call Me By Your Name shared the prize with Dogman for best editing. Despite Name‘s wide success in America, the film couldn’t compete with Italian tastes for gritty portrayal of criminal life, where shows like Gomorrah often draw in greater audiences than top soccer games.
Dogman‘s successes so far indicate a great chance that it will be Italy’s submission for the Academy Awards next year. While there is much Oscar buzz for the film within the country, many local critics believe that the film’s raw subject matter may ultimately hurt its chances of receiving a fair shot, as was rumored to have happened with Garrone’s previous film about mafia life, Gomorrah.
Among other prizes, Elena Sofia Ricci and Kasia Smutniak won best leading and supporting actresses respectively for their roles in Paolo Sorrentino’s film about ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Loro.
Riccardo Milani won best comedy for his film Like a Cat on a Highway, with leads Paola Cortellesi and Antonio Albanese also winning for best comedic actors.
Twins Fabio and Damiano D’Innocenzo won best new directors for Boys Cry, about two friends who are unwittingly drawn into Rome’s underworld. The film debuted earlier this year to rave reviews in Berlin’s panorama section, with Hollywood Reporter‘s Boyd van Hoeij’s calling the film “a knockout.”
The Silver Ribbons have been a tradition since 1946, handed out by the Italian National Film Journalists Union (SNGCI). Together with the David di Donatello awards, they are considered Italy’s highest cinematic honors.
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