Film Silver Lion at the Venice Theater Biennale for Ursina Lardi
The actress Ursina Lardi has won the Silver Lion at the 2025 Venice Theater Biennale. Born in Graubünden, she was already honored with the Hans Reinhart Ring in 2017. The Golden Lion went to Elizabeth LeCompte, founder of the Wooster Group.
28.01.2025, 15:56
SDA
"Radicalism and empathy": These were the words used by US actor Willem Dafoe to characterize his colleague Ursina Lardi from Graubünden. She now lives in Berlin and works in theater, film and television.
"In all the characters she has embodied - from Wedekind's Lulu to Einar Schleef's Salome, from Fassbinder's Maria Braun to Chekhov's Lyuba and many others - Ursina Lardi had the infinite grace and aching awareness to imbue every single line, every nuance of classical or contemporary texts with great humanity," said Defoe, artistic director of the Department of Theater at the Biennale.
Lardi has been a member of the Berliner Schaubühne ensemble since 2012. She first appeared there in 2004, as Countess von Geschwitz in "Lulu", directed by Thomas Ostermeier. She has also performed on numerous German-speaking stages. She made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2020. In 2017, she received the Hans Reinhart Ring, the highest theater award in Switzerland.
Back in 2014, Lardi won the Swiss Film Award for Best Actress for her role as Lena in the film "Traumland" (2014) by Petra Volpe. Ursina Lardi was born in Samedan in 1970. She grew up speaking Italian in Poschiavo.
The Venice Lions will be awarded as part of the 53rd International Theater Festival (31.5.-15.6.): LeCompte will receive the Golden Lion on Sunday, June 1; Lardi will receive the Silver Lion on Saturday, June 14.
