For only the second time in its ninety year history, the Venice Film Festival has given its top prize, to a documentary.

All The Beauty And the Bloodshed follows the artist Nan Goldin’s efforts to bring down the Sackler family, seen as partly responsible for America’s opioid epidemic. Accepting the Golden Lion, the film’s director Laura Poitras thanked the festival for “understanding that documentary is cinema.”

Poitras – previously best known for her documentary Citizenfour, about the CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden – also spoke out in support of the Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who’s currently in detention in his home country. His film No Bears was awarded the Special Jury Prize.

Poitras’ win also marks the third year in a row that a female director has won the festival’s top prize.

Alice Diop’s Saint Omer won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize – and the Lion of the Future award for the best debut film.

The Italian film-maker Luca Guadagnino was named the best director for his cannibal love s tory, Bones And All. One of the film’s star’s, Taylor Russell, was honoured as the best new talent at the festival.

The two main acting awards went to Cate Blanchett, for TÁR, and Colin Farrell for The Banshees Of Inisherin, which also won the best screenplay prize for its director, Martin McDonagh.

Here is the full list of winners from this year’s Venice Film Festival – one of the first events to showcase films that are likely to feature in the upcoming awards season: