VENICE – Jury president Quentin Tarantino faced charges of favouritism yesterday after he handed out two major awards at the Venice film festival to friends of his, including that for best picture for Somewhere, directed by his ex-partner Sofia Coppola.
Another friend and mentor, Monte Hellman, landed a special career award.
Spanish entry Balada Triste de Trompeta, which picked up the director and screenplay prizes for Alex de la Iglesia, was widely panned by critics. Best actor award went to Vincent Gallo for Essential Killing, in which he utters not a word, and there were no prizes for Italian films – all of which made Saturday's closing ceremony one of the most unpredictable in years.
"The presidency of Quentin Tarantino runs the risk of being the most obvious conflict of interest, given that Somewhereand Road to Nowhereseemed charming and intriguing but nothing more," wrote Paolo Mereghetti, film critic for Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Tarantino was quick to reject suggestions of favouritism. “I wasn’t going to let anything like that affect me at all,” he said after the awards were announced.
Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, partly based Somewhereon her experiences as a girl following her famous father from one hotel to another. – (Reuters)