Irish co-production Poor Things has been selected as Best Film at the 80th edition of the prestigious Venice International Film Festival.
The dark science fiction comedy took the prestigious Golden Lion (Leone d'Oro), the top prize at the festival, which is considered one of the highest honours in the global film industry.
With direction from Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, Irish studio Element Pictures co-produced the film, along with Searchlight Pictures and Film4.
This quartet successfully collaborated in the past on 2019 Oscar-nominated feature The Favourite.
Irish producers Ed Guiney (Room) and Andrew Lowe (The Guard) of Element Pictures produced the film, having previously produced all of Lanthimos' English-language films, including The Favourite, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Lobster. Lanthimos and film lead Emma Stone completed the producing team.
Stone stars alongside Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) and four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man) in this movie, which is the film adaptation of 1992 Alasdair Grey’s novel of the same name - a Victorian-set tale heavily inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
The film is described as "a Victorian tale of love, discovery and scientific daring", and follows the story of Belle Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by an eccentric but brilliant scientist.
The film is set for release in Ireland on 12 January 2024.
The Venice Film Festival is the world's oldest film festival and is considered one of the "Big Five" film festivals annually, alongside the Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance.
The awards are decided by a jury of industry experts, and with this year’s panel led by American director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land, Babylon).
British-Irish filmmaker Martin McDonough was also part of this year’s jury.
Element Pictures have also produced TV series Normal People, Conversations with Friends and The Dry, as well as films Room and The Wonder.
