| Location | Venice, Italy |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1932 |
| Festival date | 28 August – 9 September 1956 |
| Website | Website |
| Venice Film Festival chronology | |
| 18th 16th | |
The 17th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 9 September 1956.
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.
Jury
- John Grierson, British filmmaker - Jury President
- André Bazin, French film critic
- G.B. Cavallaro, Italian 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
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | Robert Aldrich | United States | |
| The Awakening | Suor Letizia | Mario Camerini | Italy |
| Big and Small | Veliki i mali | Vladimir Pogačić | Yugoslavia |
| Bigger Than Life | Nicholas Ray | United States | |
| The Burmese Harp | ビルマの竪琴 | Kon Ichikawa | Japan |
| Bus Stop | Joshua Logan | United States | |
| The Captain from Köpenick | Der Hauptmann von Köpenick | Helmut Käutner | West Germany |
| Empire in the Sun | L'impero del sole | Enrico Gras | Italy |
| Gervaise | René Clément | France | |
| The Immortal Garrison | Бессмертный гарнизон | Zakhar Agranenko, Eduard Tisse | Soviet Union |
| Main Street | Calle Mayor | Juan Antonio Bardem | Spain |
| The Ogre of Athens | Ο Δράκος | Nikos Koundouros | Greece |
| The Rocket from Calabuch | Calabuch | Luis García Berlanga | Spain |
| Street of Shame | 赤線地帯 | Kenji Mizoguchi | Japan |
| Torero! | Carlos Velo | Mexico | |
| La Traversée de Paris | Claude Autant-Lara | France | |
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
FIPRESCI Prize
OCIC Award
- Calabuch by Luis García Berlanga
- Honorable Mention: The Burmese Harp by Kon Ichikawa
Pasinetti Award
References
- "The 1950s [sic]". Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- 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. JSTOR 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.
- "17. Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia". La Biennale di Venezia (in Italian). Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- "Juries for the 1950s [sic]". Retrieved October 8, 2013.
External links
| Venice Film Festival | |
|---|---|
| Awards | |
| Independent awards | |
| By year |
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| List of Venice Film Festival jury presidents | |