Venice Crowns Russian Pic, Penn

The 2003 edition of the Venice Film Fest bid ciao this weekend, but not before giving props to Sean Penn and a rookie Russian helmer.

The granddaddy of all film fests, now in its 60th year, ended its 11-day run by bestowing Best Actor kudos to Penn for his role as a critically ill mathematician in Mexican helmer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's gritty 21 Grams, the story of three people whose lives crisscross following a hit-and-run accident and the only U.S. film in competition.

But the big winner was Andrey Zvyagintsev. The first-time filmmaker captured the coveted Golden Lion, the fest's top prize, for his haunting father-son drama The Return. It was a bittersweet win for Zvyagintsev, who used his acceptance speech to pay tribute to his film's 15-year-old protagonist, Vladimir Garin, who drowned shortly after the film wrapped in the same lake where many of the movie's scenes were shots.

"You see only two actors up on the stage tonight. Those who saw the film know there were three main actors," said a visibly shaken Zvyagintsev. "The fact is that the actor who played Andrey died tragically two months ago. We would like to dedicate this award to him."

The Return also garnered the award for Best First Feature.

Lebanese director Randa Chahal Sabbag's The Kite snagged the runner-up Silver Lion Jury Grand Prize for its exploration of love and longing on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

For his part, Penn gave credit to his costars, which included Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro. "I'm very grateful to the jury for this. Anyone who saw the film knows the ensemble I'm a part of."

Meanwhile, Germany's Katja Riemann earned Best Actress for Rosenstrasse, a historical film tracing the round-up and deportation of Jews in World War II Berlin.

Japanese filmmaker Takeshi "Beat" Kitano walked away with a Silver Lion for Best Director for Zatoichi, his update about a blind samurai warrior in 19th century Japan. The film has also been a hit at the current Toronto International Film Festival, where it was just snapped up for North American distribution by Miramax.

Italian director-writer Marco Bellocchio grabbed the award for Outstanding Individual Contribution for penning the script for his Good Morning, Night, detailing the 1978 kidnapping and murder of politician Aldo Moro by left-wing terrorists.

Other winners included Najat Dessalem (the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor for the French film, Raja); Azerbaijanian filmmaker Murad Ibragimbekov (Silver Lion for Best Short Film for The Oil); and Spain's Julio Robledo (the UIP prize for Best European Short Film for The Trumouse Show).

In the Upstream competition, a separate category for less mainstream films, the San Marco Prize of $55,000 for best film was given to Hiner Saleem's Vodka Lemon. American actress Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World) was named Best Actress playing opposite Bill Murray in Sofia Coppola's well-received sophomore effort, Lost in Translation. Thailand's Asano Tadanobu took Best Actor for Last Life in the Universe.

Germany's Michael Schorr was tapped for Upstream's Special Director's Award for Schulz Gets the Blues.

All told, more than 29 films were in the running for the Golden Lion and more than 145 titles were shown at this year's fest, which also featured the usual assortment of gliteratti.

Woody Allen kicked off things off along the Lido by making his first appearance at Venice to screen his new romantic comedy, Anything Else, with stars Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci.

But the star power didn't stop there.