Danny Boyle Honored With Variety Award as 'Ink' Opens Venice — SkimNews
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- Danny Boyle received Variety's Creative Impact in Directing Award on Monday at the Hotel Excelsior poolside terrace during Venice's pre-opening party
- Boyle's "Ink" is set to open the festival Wednesday as an exposé of how The Sun propelled Rupert Murdoch's rise to "right-wing media baron," with Jack O'Connell starring as Sun editor Larry Lamb and Guy Pearce as Murdoch
- Boyle called "Ink" "the oddest film that's ever opened Venice" and praised festival chief Alberto Barbera for the "courage" of programming it as the opener
- O'Connell, presenting the award, credited Boyle with an instinct for "capturing the mood of Britain," citing a career arc from "Trainspotting" to staging the London Olympics opening ceremony
- Co-stars Claire Foy and Guy Pearce attended alongside jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was spotted chatting with Boyle
- Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh framed Venice as "really the official launch of awards season," with the 83rd edition running Sept. 2–12
Why it matters: With Venice positioned by Variety as the official launch of awards season, Boyle and "Ink" — a Murdoch media exposé — become early-season fixtures that could shape awards conversations and draw political scrutiny well before the Oscars race heats up. Setoodeh's framing means films premiering here are treated as bellwethers for the months ahead, not just festival curiosities.
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