Gritty drama Desde Alla (From Afar), about a rich man who becomes involved sexually with a young male gang member, was selected as the best entry at the 2015 event, marking the first time a Latin American movie has won the top title.

The Silver Lion for best director was handed to Pablo Trapero for his Argentinian true-crime thriller El Clan (The Clan), while the Grand Jury Prize went to Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman's American animated comedy Anomalisa.

Fabrice Luchini was named Best Actor for his role as a judge in Christian Vincent's L'Hermine (Courted), and Valeria Golino claimed Best Actress for her part in Giuseppe Gaudino's family drama Per Amor Vostro (For Your Love), 29 years after her last win in the same category for A Tale of Love.

Meanwhile, Idris Elba's 14-year-old Beasts Of No Nation co-star Abraham Attah was presented with the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor, Best Screenplay was won by Vincent for L'Hermine, and the Special Jury Prize was awarded to Elmin Alper for political drama Frenzy.

The winners, announced as the festival came to a close on Saturday (12Sep15), were picked by a jury led by Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron, who admitted he was "very happy" to award the Golden Lion to a Latin American film, but insisted the fact he is Mexican is just a coincidence. Diane Kruger, Elizabeth Banks, and filmmakers Lynne Ramsay, Pawel Pawlikowski, Francesco Munzi, Emmanuel Carrere, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Nuri Bilge Ceylan served as the other jury members.