ROME, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone took home his seventh statuette for his movie "Dogman" at the 64th edition of Italy's equivalent of the Oscars, the David di Donatello Awards ceremony, which was held here on Wednesday evening.
Garrone said he began writing "Dogman" 12 years ago and made the movie "almost by chance," and that he was surprised when it went on to be very successful.
Based on a true crime story from the 1980s, "Dogman" is about a gentle and hardworking dog groomer who hatches a plan to reassert his dignity after he is repeatedly abused by a vicious former boxer who terrorizes the neighborhood.
The film was nominated for the top prize at Cannes, the Palme d'Or, where star Marcello Fonte won the Best Actor Award, and it was Italy's candidate for the best foreign language film at the Oscars earlier this year.
"Directing is linked to the gaze, the capacity to see what others can't, but without actors we are nothing," said Garrone, thanking his cast for their work.
American movie star Uma Thurman handed the Best Actor statuette to Alessandro Borghi for his starring role in Alessio Cremonini's "On My Skin," which relates a famous death in custody case in Italy that was subsequently covered up.
A critical and box office success, "On My Skin" was the first Italian movie to be released on Netflix, where it reached audiences in 190 countries, its producers said.
Elena Sofia Ricci won the Best Actress award for her role in Paolo Sorrentino's movie "Loro" (Them) about former premier Silvio Berlusconi and the power-hungry people who surrounded him, in which she played the media tycoon's wife.
Roberto Benigni handed the David for Cinematic Excellence award to American director Tim Burton, while veteran Italian director Dario Argento and Oscar-winning set designer Francesca Lo Schiavo each received a special David award for career achievement.
In his late 70s, Argento is Italy's master of the horror and thriller genres and is a cult favorite among domestic and foreign audiences for classics such as "Deep Red" (1975) and "Suspiria" (1977).
He received a standing ovation from the star-studded audience as he said that he loves all his movies equally because they are like his children, and also revealed that he is working on a new film.
Three-time Oscar winner Francesca Lo Schiavo, who has worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, said that "this prize is a celebration of great Italian cinema."
She dedicated the award to all the directors she had worked with, because they taught her to look beyond the possible, and also to the younger generations in the hope that they will be inspired to follow in her footsteps in what she described as "a beautiful way to make a living."
The Best Foreign Film award went to "Roma" by Mexico's Alfonso Cuaron, who won the Golden Lion in Venice last September before going on to sweep the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
The competitors in the foreign film category included one film from China -- "Qi shi qi tian" (77 Days) by Hantang Zhao, who won the Best Young Director award at the China Britain Film Festival in 2017.
All the David di Donatello nominees were invited earlier in the day to the Quirinal Palace for a traditional introduction to President Sergio Mattarella, who said in a speech that "cinema is an expression of culture, industry, research; it is dreams, it is magic" and also "a vital part of our community."
Dating back to 1956 when the first ceremony took place, the David di Donatello Awards are named after a famous 15th century bronze statue of the biblical hero David by early Renaissance sculptor Donatello, which is housed in the Bargello Museum in Florence.
