# A manga friendship wins Venice's oldest prize

> Koreeda's 'Look Back' took the 1948-founded SIGNIS Award for a story about two girls, manga, and grief turned into purpose.
- Title: A manga friendship wins Venice's oldest prize · Vaticannews
- Summary: Koreeda's 'Look Back' took the 1948-founded SIGNIS Award for a story about two girls, manga, and grief turned into purpose. The jury rewarded a film that…
- Keywords: cinema, venice film festival, signis, japan, catholic media, religion, world, manga, friendship, wins, Venice's, oldest
- Source: Vaticannews — https://vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2026-09/venice-film-festival-look-back-signis-2026-award-koreeda.html
- Author: Vatican News
- Published: 2026-09-12T12:55:09.422+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: cinema, venice film festival, signis, japan, catholic media, religion, world
## Koreeda takes the SIGNIS Award
Hirokazu Koreeda's 'Look Back' won the SIGNIS Award at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The jury called it an act of hope and healing.

> an act of hope and healing
## A four-country jury decided
The World Catholic Association for Communication assembled jurors from Germany, Italy, Venezuela and the Czech Republic, who praised the film as a tool for transformation.

> a bridge through which pain can be transformed into purpose and the courage to move forward renewed
## Venice's oldest independent prize
The SIGNIS Film Prize was established in 1948, making it the longest-running independent award handed out at the Venice festival.
## Two girls, one passion for manga
The film follows two very different girls united by manga, tracing how a creative vocation is born and then sustained by dedication and professional commitment.

> two girls who are different from one another but united by their passion for manga
## Friendship out of isolation
Koreeda shows mutual support leading the protagonists out of isolation and toward their place in the world, even while they face guilt, tragic loss and hard blows of fate.

> acceptance and reconciliation emerge from honouring the bond of friendship
## Talent as a gift received
The jury also read a spiritual layer in the film: artistic talent as a transcendent gift, taken with gratitude and cultivated through work.

> the recognition of artistic talent as a transcendent gift
## Key takeaway

The jury rewarded a film that treats talent as a gift and friendship as the way out of isolation, with art as the bridge from pain to purpose.