The US film Nomadland won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, the first event to be held with a live audience since the outbreak of Covid-19.

In this film by Chloe Zhao of Chinese descent, Frances McDormond plays a widow who has been living as a nomad since the 2008 crisis.

Kyoshi Kurosawa of Japan, the Mexican director Michelle Franco’s thriller New Order and the historical historical drama Wife of a Spy, both won the Silver Lions.

Those who saw the pictures in the movies in Venice had to wear masks.

Nearly half of the seats at the Lido Waterfront venues were left vacant, and a few celebrities traveled to the world’s oldest film festival.

Australian actress Kate Blanchett, who led the jury at the festival’s 77th edition, said the winner was chosen after “healthy and healthy” discussions by jury members.

“A good discussion is whether or not there is a good discussion about a mask,” he said.

Zhao, who became the first woman to win the festival’s top award in 10 years, and McDormond, speaking from Zoom in California.

“Thank you so much for letting us come to your festival in this weird, weird, weird world and on the way,” McDormand said.

The festival’s grand jury award went to Franco’s film, while Kurosawa was nominated for Best Director. They were jointly awarded the Silver Lion.

Russian director Andrei Konchlovsky was given a special jury award for favorite comrades! A 1929 film about the genocide of protesters in the USSR.

Britain’s Vanessa Kirby won the Best Actress award, while the Best Actor award went to Pierre Francesco Favino of Italy.

Last year, the Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix won the festival’s top prize.

• Jod and Roman Polanski won the Venice Festival

The annual gathering in the Italian city of Cannes and Berlin, as well as one of the “Big Three” film festivals.

The Berlin Festival was scheduled for February 20 to March 1.

But the organizers of the Cannes festival – which took place in May – were forced to postpone the event due to a coronavirus outbreak.