The 66th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was held from 2 to 12 September 2009, with Maria Grazia Cucinotta serving as the festival's hostess. The opening film of the festival was Baarìa by Giuseppe Tornatore and the closing film was Chengdu, I Love You by Fruit Chan and Cui Jian.
The international competition jury, chaired by Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee, awarded the Golden Lion to Lebanon by Samuel Maoz.
Juries
The international juries of the 66th Venice International Film Festival were composed as follows:
Main competition (Venezia 66) Ang Lee, Taiwanese filmmaker and producer - Jury President Sergei Bodrov, Russian filmmaker and producer Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress and filmmaker Liliana Cavani, Italian filmmaker Joe Dante, American director, producer, editor and actor Anurag Kashyap, Indian director, writer, producer and actor Luciano Ligabue, Italian director, writer and singer-songwriter
Horizons (Orizzonti) Pere Portabella, Spanish politician, director, and producer - Jury President Bady Minck, Luxembourger filmmaker and artist Gina Kim, South Korean filmmaker and academic Garin Nugroho, Indonesian director Gianfranco Rosi, Italian director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter
Opera Prima ("Luigi de Laurentis" Award for a Debut Film) Haile Gerima, Ethiopian filmmaker - Jury President Ramin Bahrani, American director and screenwriter Gianni Di Gregorio, Italian director, screenwriter and actor Antoine Fuqua, American director and producer Sam Taylor-Wood, English filmmaker and photographer
Corto-Cortissimo (Short Film Competition) Stuart Gordon American filmmaker, theater director and playwright - Jury President Steve Ricci, Italian cinematographer, screenwriter and editor Sitora Alieva, Russian artistic director of the International Film Festival Kinotav
Controcampo Italiano
Carlo Lizzani, Italian director, screenwriter and critic - Jury President
Giulio Questi, Italian director and screenwriter
Marina Sanna, Italian chief editor of cinema magazine
Official Sections
In Competition
The following films competed for the Golden Lion:
Highlighted title indicates Golden Lion for best film.
Out of Competition
The following films were screened as Out of competition:
Corto Cortissimo (Short Film Competition) The following films were selected for the Corto Cortissimo (Short film competition) section:
Highlighted title indicates Corto Cortissimo Lion winner.