Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape Of Water has won the Golden Lion at the 74th Venice Film Festival.

Samuel Maoz earned the grand jury prize at the awards ceremony on Saturday evening for Foxtrot (Israel-Germany-France-Switzerland). Xavier Legrand won the best director Silver Lion for Custody (France) as well as The Lion Of The Future ‘Luigi De Laurentiis’ Venice Award for a debut film, which carries a $100,000 award donated by Filmauro to be shared between the director and his producer.

In the acting stakes, Charlotte Rampling earned the Coppa Volpi best actress prize for Andrea Pallaoro’s Hannah (Italy-Belgium-France), and Kamel El Basha took the best actor award for Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult (Lebanon-France).

The festival awarded its best screenplay prize to Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (UK), and the special jury prize went to Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country (Australia). The Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress went to Charlie Plummer for Andrew Haigh’s Lean On Pete (UK).

Nico, 1988 (Italy-Belgium) by Susanna Nicchiarelli took Venice Horizons best film honours, as best director went to Vahid Jalilvand for No Date, No Signature (Iran) and the Special Horizons Jury Prize to Caniba (France-USA) by Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor. Lyna Khoudri won best actress for Sofia Djama’s Les Bienheureux (France-Belgium- Qatar), and Navid Mohammadzadeh from No Date, No Signature was named best actor.

Alireza Khatami, Dominique Welinski and René Ballesteros earned the Horizons best screenplay award for Oblivion Verses (France-Germany-Netherlands-Chile), and Céline Devaux won best short for Gros Chagrin (France) and is the Venice short film nomination for the European Film Awards 2017.

Scroll down for full winners list

Venice winners quoted:

Guillermo Del Toro – Golden Lion for best film (The Shape Of Water)
“We are coming to a point with genre, where directors who are trying to do beautiful, politically charged movies like The Babadook and Get Out, that are questioning human nature and doing so with exquisite craftsmanship, are being recognised. I think it’s about time we understand that every vernacular in cinema done with intelligence and passion is valid.”

Charlotte Rampling – Coppa Volpi for best actress (Hannah)
“A prize means you have been recognised in a certain way. The prize element I got tonight because of my work in the film is tremendous for me… it means so much because it means that a group of people have voted for me, as it is a competition. We don’t want to be in competition with other actors and festivals like to have competition and these moments where one person will win; it makes you like an animal where you are excited to win and you want to be the best and I feel like I’ve won this and in a day or two I won’t think of that at all.”

Charlie Plummer – Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor or actress (Lean On Pete)
“I think there is a responsibility and having an award in his name is extremely meaningful for me, especially his career and relationship with directors he has worked with – that is inspiring for me as an actor. There is a responsibility that I’m putting on myself to continue that.”

Samuel Maoz – Silver Lion grand jury prize (Foxtrot)
[reacting to news that Israel’s minister of culture Miri Regev had criticised the film’s Venice win]
“Every human generation should try to improve themselves and the measure of this improvement is the ability to have success with criticism. The ability to take criticism is important but when critics are called traitors, there no chance of getting wiser and so if I criticise the place I live, I do it for love.”

Additional reporting by Kaleem Aftab

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS LIST:

Golden Lion For Best Film
The Shape Of Water (USA), Guillermo del Toro

Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize
Foxtrot (Israel-Germany-France-Switzerland), Samuel Maoz

Silver Lion - Award For Best Director
Xavier Legrand, Custody (France)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress
Charlotte Rampling, Hannah (Italy-Belgium-France)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor
Kamel El Basha, The Insult (Lebanon-France)

Award For Best Screenplay
Martin McDonaghm Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (UK)

Special Jury Prize
Sweet Country (Australia), Warwick Thornton

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress
Charlie Plummer, Lean On Pete (UK)

Lion Of The Future “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award For A Debut Film
Custody, Xavier Legrand

VENICE HORIZONS AWARDS

Best film
Nico, 1988 (Italy-Belgium), Susanna Nicchiarelli

Best director
Vahid Jalilvand, No Date, No Signature (Iran)

Special Horizons Jury Prize
Caniba (France-USA), Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Best actress
Lyna Khoudri, Les Bienheureux (France- Belgium-Qatar)

Best actor
Navid Mohammadzadeh, No Date, No Signature

Best Screenplay
Oblivion Verses, Alireza Khatami, Dominique Welinski and René Ballesteros (France-Germany-Netherlands-Chile)

Best short
Gros Chagrin (France), Céline Devaux
Gros Chagrin is the Venice Short Film Nomination for the European Film Awards 2017.

VENICE VIRTUAL REALITY AWARDS

Best VR Award
Arden’s Wake (Expanded, USA), Eugene YK Chung

Best VR Experience Award (For Interactive Content)
La Camera Insabbiata (USA-Taiwan), Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang

Best VR Story Award (For Linear Content)
Bloodless (South Korea-USA), Gina Kim

VENICE CLASSICS AWARDS

Venice Classics Award For Best Documentary On Cinema
The Prince And The Dybbuk (Poland-Germany), Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski

Venice Classics Award For Best Restored Film
Come And See (USSR, 1985), Elem Klimov

Golden Lion For Lifetime Achievement 2017
Jane Fonda, Robert Redford

Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory To The Filmmker Award 2017
Stephen Frears