Christiane Jatahy Wins Golden Lion for Theatre at Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale has awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre to Brazilian director and playwright Christiane Jatahy. The award was proposed by theatre sector directors Stefano Ricci and Gianni Forte (ricci/forte) and approved by the Biennale's Board of Directors. Jatahy, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1968, has since 2003 explored the boundaries between theatre and cinema, actor and character, reality and fiction. Her international breakthrough came with "Julia," based on Strindberg's "Miss Julie," which won the Shell Award for Best Theatre Direction in Brazil in 2012 and has been performed over 300 times worldwide, including at the 2015 Venice Biennale. The Silver Lion was awarded to Samira Elagoz, a filmmaker and performer of Egyptian and Finnish descent, whose work addresses gender and sexual violence. Elagoz, born in Helsinki in 1989 and based between Amsterdam and Berlin, began in 2013 filming cisgender men met through online platforms, resulting in the performance "Cock, Cock, Who's There?" which toured for five years pre- and post-#metoo. The artist now identifies as transgender masculine. Elagoz will debut "Seek Bromance" at the Biennale, a four-hour saga about a strong relationship between transgender people set at the end of the world, created with Cade Moga during the Covid pandemic. The award ceremony will take place during the 50th International Theatre Festival, scheduled from June 24 to July 3, 2022.