Even though it was almost four hours long, everyone stayed for “The Woman Who Left” by Filipino director Lav Diaz. The film about a wrongly convicted woman who gets locked behind bars for three decades won the Golden Lion, the highest prize presented at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival.

Filipino director Lav Diaz was awarded the Golden Lion for his almost four-hour film “The Woman Who Left.” Diaz, born in 1958 in Datu Paglas of the Philippines, is an acclaimed independent filmmaker and winner of several awards at other international film festivals.

Filipino director Lav Diaz was awarded the Golden Lion for his almost four-hour film "The Woman Who Left".

The 228-minute drama tells the story of a former schoolteacher who is wrongly convicted and put behind bars for 30 years. Shocked by the reality of her homeland, she decides to take revenge after leaving prison. So will the prize bring Diaz fame and fortune?

“Maybe there will be money coming. No, it’s a joke. Even without money I’ll still do cinema. I love cinema. I have faith in cinema,” he said.

In total, eight films were awarded this year in the main competition Venezia 73, by an international jury of nine, chaired by British director Sam Mendes.

The Silver Lion, or the Grand Jury Prize, went to American designer-turned-director Tom Ford for his second feature film “Nocturnal Animals,” a thriller starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The Silver Lion, or the Grand Jury Prize, went to American designer-turned-director Tom Ford for his second feature film "Nocturnal Animals", a thriller starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The Best Director prize was shared by Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky for “Paradise” and Mexican director Amat Escalante for “The Untamed.”

Argentine actor Oscar Martinez was named Best Actor for his performance in “The Distinguished Citizen,” while American actress Emma Stone landed Best Actress for her role in the musical “La La Land.”

“I really loved being forced to concentrate on 20 films with eight other extraordinary people to discuss it with afterwards and it’s really reawakened my enthusiasm for a lot of independent cinema,” said Sam Mendez, director, Jury President, Venice Film Festival.

“I’ve gone away with a long list of movies, movies that have been made by some of these filmmakers before, movies that other people have suggested, along with some movies to see now because I’ve been re-excited about the cinema, so for me it's been a great experience.”

The festival ended with a screening of the film “The Magnificent Seven” by American director Antoine Fuqua, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt.

This year, a total 43 countries and regions participated in the festival, which began Aug. 31. Twenty feature films were chosen from the nearly 3,000 films viewed to join the Venezia 73 session, 19 for the Orizzonti section. In addition, 14 short films, including seven documentaries, also competed in the Orizzonti section, while 18 feature films and two short films were screened out of competition.

Established in 1932, the Venice Film Festival is the oldest-running film festival in the world, and one of the three major European film festivals.