Lebanon (2009 film) date. Maoz says many Israeli figures were against "Lebanon" even being featured at the Venice International Film Festival. The Venice jury was chaired by Ang Lee, who had won the Golden Lion award in Venice in 2005 with "Brokeback Mountain" and in 2007 with "Lust, Caution". "Lebanon" competed against 24 other entries. The win in Venice caused a boost in the film's popularity at the Toronto International Film Festival. "The New York Times" described "Lebanon" as "an astonishing piece of cinema". "Variety" magazine said "Lebanon" is "the boldest and best" of recent Israeli films based upon the Lebanon wars. Lebanon
69th Venice International Film Festival Lion for Best Director. Israeli actress Hadas Yaron for her performance in "Fill the Void" was selected as the Best Actress in the festival. The international juries of the 69th Venice International Film Festival included: Main competition (Venezia 69) Horizons (Orizzonti) Opera Prima (Venice Award for a Debut Film) The following eighteen films were selected for the main competition: The following films were selected for the out of competition section: The following films were selected for the "Horizons (Orizzonti)" section: The following selection of restored classic films and documentaries on cinema were screened for this section: The following rare films