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
61st Venice International Film Festival the official selection: 61st Venice International Film Festival The 61st annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 1 to 11 September 2004. The festival opened with Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal", and closed with Katsuhiro Otomo's "Steamboy". The Golden Lion was awarded to the film "Vera Drake", directed by Mike Leigh. On this edition of the festival, a new independent section, Venice Days ("Giornate degli autori"), has started "for free cinema, new talents and new stories". This section is organized by the ANAC (National Association of Cinematographic Authors) and the API (Independent Authors & Producers). Also in this edition, "The