17th Venice International Film Festival

The 17th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 9 September 1956.^[1]

No Golden Lion was awarded, the international jury was unable to decide the winner, after a tie in the voting between The Burmese Harp and Calle Mayor, the award was declared void for the first (and only) time ever.^[2][3]

Jury

• John Grierson, British filmmaker - Jury President^[4]
• André Bazin, French film critic
• G. B. Cavallaro, Italia film critic
• Fridrikh Ermler, Soviet filmmaker and actor
• James Quinn, British producer and exhibitor
• Kiyohiko Ushihara, Japanese filmmaker
• Luchino Visconti, Italian filmmaker

Official Sections

Main Competition

Official Awards

Main Competition

• Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Bourvil for La Traversée de Paris
• Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Maria Schell for Gervaise
• Special Mentions:
  • Street of Shame by Kenji Mizoguchi
  • Heinz Rühmann for The Captain from Köpenick
  • Anna Magnani for The Awakening
  • Franco Bernetti, Mario Craveri, Ubaldo Marelli, Giovanni Raffaldi for Empire in the Sun
  • Torero! by Carlos Velo
  • The Immortal Garrison by Zakhar Agranenko & Eduard Tisse
  • Betsy Blair for Calle Mayor
  • The Burmese Harp by Kon Ichikawa
  • Calle Mayor by Juan Antonio Bardem

Independent Awards

New Cinema Award

• Best Film: Calle Mayor by Juan Antonio Bardem
• Best Actor: Heinz Rühmann for The Captain from Köpenick
• Best Actress: Maria Schell for Gervaise

San Giorgio Prize

• The Burmese Harp by Kon Ichikawa

FIPRESCI Prize

• Calle Mayor by Juan Antonio Bardem
• Gervaise by René Clément

OCIC Award

• Calabuch by Luis García Berlanga
  • Honorable Mention: The Burmese Harp by Kon Ichikawa

Pasinetti Award

• Attack by Robert Aldrich

References

1. "The 1950s [sic]". Retrieved October 8, 2013.
2. Roos, Fred (Spring 1957). "Venice Film Festival, 1956" (PDF). The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television. 11 (3). University of California Press: 249. doi:10.2307/1209744. Retrieved April 5, 2020. The report began with a few sentences of praise for each of the 14 films [sic], and then selected the Japanese Harp of Burma and the Spanish Calle Mayor as being particularly outstanding. Since the jury was unable to decide which of these two films was the superior, it had decided not to award a grand prix "St. Mark Golden Lion" this year.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. "17. Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia". La Biennale di Venezia (in Italian). Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
4. "Juries for the 1950s [sic]". Retrieved October 8, 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Venice Film Festival 1956 Awards on IMDb