VENICE – “My mother always taught me that in times of darkness I should look for the light. These women are the light,” said Diane von Furstenberg, hosting the 14^th edition of the annual DVF Awards Thursday evening at the Fondazione Cini during The Venice Film Festival.  “They will save the world, they are the most beautiful and bravest, and they never give up.”

The DVF Awards were created in 2010 by the designer and The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation to recognize and support extraordinary women who are dedicated to transforming and inspiring the lives of other women, granting each honoree $100,000 for their non-profit organization in order to further their work.

The event kicked off with a performance by Grammy-nominated singer and mental health advocate Jewel, who recalled how, upon meeting von Furstenberg, she realized she was being carefully studied. “At the end Diane said, ‘I like you’,” which led to the two teaming. “She has a knack for accumulating bada– women. This comes at a cost, the willingness to step into the furnace of pain and suffering.”

Special guest, U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, touted the women being awarded as “heroes of our time, advancing liberty and justice.” But, addressing Barry Diller in the audience, she said should “stick to the notes, he wants me to be precise.” She described von Furstenberg as “a trailblazer, she does much more than turn heads on the runway with her relentless commitment to this mission. When women succeed, America succeeds, and the education of women and girls makes the difference.”

Likewise, von Furstenberg praised Pelosi for “exemplifying strength, courage and leadership, her resilience is so inspiring.  She is a role model and she saved America many times.”

Before the event, Pelosi spoke of how politics is increasingly divisive and that “the unfortunate presidency [in the U.S.] has enhanced those divisions, not created them, and social media has enabled to find like-minded people. We don’t agonize over this, but organize to bring people together.” She expressed her belief that President Joe Biden will win the elections once again because he is “wise, has empathy, is focused on women, the economy and education.”

In addition to her strong relationship with von Furstenberg, Pelosi’s association with the Fashion industry is also famously linked to the fiery red Max Mara coat she wore confronting President Donald Trump in 2018, and her power suits. Fashion, however, should allow “people to be their own selves, with their own and different styles,” she cautioned.

Dame Emma Thomson spoke of von Furstenberg’s persuasiveness, as she succeeded in “managing to get me into a dress” – although she curbed the floral pattern’s romantic mood by donning sturdy and studded motorcycle ankle boots. Before the awards ceremony, Thomson, who has a house in Venice, surprised a group of local journalists by speaking in Italian, although she admitted she is still learning the language.

She was generous with her time, speaking freely on a number of subjects, from the #MeToo movement – “don’t think that with Harvey Weinstein it all went away, women continue to have to be very careful and watchful” – and supporting the actors’ and screenwriters’ strike to buying fresh produce at the Venice market (employing the right Italian words for seabass and different vegetables) and revealing she would like to learn to row, influenced by the plethora of gondolas on the Grand Canal.

Thomson bestowed the DVF Leadership Award on Helena Gualinga, an environmental and human rights defender who advocates for the protection of the Amazon Rainforest and Indigenous people’s rights.

“Gualinga is from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, a community that has been fighting against big oil companies for decades, fighting for the planet, because they are in the rainforest, there is so much oil there and on August 21 she managed to get a ban on drilling in the Yasuni National Park, it’s a huge triumph for Ecuador, for the planet, and for women, who are going without water in the rural communities, women who are suffering where climate change is having its worst effect. She started when she was 13 and now she’s 21, she’s an old hand at this,” Thompson joked, turning serious by adding that Gualinga “is very strong and brave, as this is all very dangerous, people get murdered.”

“When the woman who keeps you out of jail calls, you come,” said journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her fight for freedom of democracy and freedom of expression, and who co-founded website Rappler.

Ressa gave the DVF Leadership Award to human rights lawyer Amal Clooney for her work on behalf of victims of human rights abuses all over the world, and who has co-founded with her husband George the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Ressa, with eight arrest warrants pending following her criticism of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, said Clooney “gave me the benefit of the doubt,” despite the fact that “when the State charges you, you are tainted.” She recounted how she was welcomed by George Clooney, “this little known actor, who gave us coffee,” eliciting a round of chuckles, and made interested inquiries into her situation.

Ressa praised Amal as “a perfectionist who pays attention to the smallest details and hates talking about herself. She really cares and that is her starting point, how she changes the world.”

In her acceptance speech, citing her efforts to defend victims of injustice around the world, Clooney quoted Eleanor Roosevelt and how “it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

Venice has a special meaning for the Clooneys, as they married here in 2014 and she gave a shoutout to both the city and her husband, comparing them to each other, “both amazing, always taking my breath away, magical and improbable.” She gushed, “I can’t believe you exist,” to a collective fuzzy-warm reaction from the audience, and before she returned to her seat to kiss him.

Earlier, George Clooney also said it was “fun to be back in Venice,  the most romantic and beautiful city in the world” as he held hands and posed for photos with his wife. Surely, the couple enjoy spending time in Europe as, in addition to vacationing on Lake Como, the actor chatted about the Provence wine estate they own with others, including Candice Bergen.

Rita Ora gave an award to actor, producer, writer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lilly Singh. “With her Unicorn Island Productions, Lilly at heart is a storyteller,” said Ora, who is also a UNICEF ambassador, “and with her stories she continues to break boundaries, spotlighting underrepresented voices and challenging social norms to transform the way the world sees, values and invests in girls and women.”  

Ora said on the sidelines of the event that she had partnered with Singh “on a couple of videos for my music release in Vancouver and it was beautiful.” She met von Furstenberg “at an Oscar luncheon a couple of years ago, she is very supportive and an amazing activist. I am really proud to be here to represent what the awards mean, to shine a light on people that make a change and a difference.”

Highlights of the event, which drew the likes of Renzo Rosso, Remo Ruffini and Diane Sawyer, among others, also included Bloomberg Television editor-at-large Francine Lacqua presenting the award to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, who spoke of her aim to illuminate the impact of AI on society and prevent AI harms, and film director Nadine Ibrahim presenting the award to her mother Amina J. Mohammed, who concluded the event with a poignant speech.