'Kotoko' makes Venice kudo

The Venice Film Festival's cutting-edge Horizons section has granted cult Japanese helmer Shinya Tsukamoto's "Kotoko" its top jerk for any feature-length work. Electronically shot pic in regards to a psychologically unstable single mom, performed by Japanese singer Cocco, was recognized by jurors for moving "freely through numerous genres to produce a remarkable representation of the woman's fragile mental condition,"Austrian filmmaker Michael Glawogger scoopped the section's Special Jury prize for docu "Whore's Glory," about sex employees in three different nations. This season Venice artistic director Marco Mueller opened up in the section to works in various formats.The Horizons jerk for the best video clip visited Italo helmers Felice D'Agostino and Arturo Lavorato's "In Attesa Dell'Avvento," a docu about Italy's turbulent past. The Horizons prize for the best medium-length work visited "Accidentes Gloriosos" co-directed by Argentina's Mauro Andrizzi and Sweden's Marcus Lindeen, composed of nine tales of dying and transformation. There have been two special mentions. One for "The Orator" by Samoan-born New Zealand-based Tusi Tamasese. His pic is recommended because the first Samoan-language feature. Another for "All Of The Lines Flow Out" by helmer Charles Lim Yi of Singapore. The Horizons jury also selected the short "Hypercrisis" by Austria's Josef Dabernig because the Venice short nominee for that European Film Honours. Individually, Venice's independantly run Crititic's Week granted its jerk to Italo helmer Guido Lombardi's "La-Bas. A Criminal Education," a gritty drama about illegal immigrants near Naples.The Critics' Week jerk, known as Premio del Publico Kino, is granted through the fest audience as opposed to a jury. Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com