US director Todd Phillips holds the Golden Lion award for his movie 'Joker' during the awarding ceremony of the 76th annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, Sept 7, 2019. [Photo/IC]

VENICE - "Joker", the film by American director Todd Phillips, won the Golden Lion on Saturday at the 76th Venice Film Festival.

The movie is a standalone story of the origins of Joker -- the criminal mastermind and well-known nemesis of comic superhero Batman -- in a never-seen portrait of the man behind the mask.

It stars Joaquin Phoenix in an impressive interpretation of the character.

This year, the Venice Film Festival has run from Aug 28 to Sept 7 at the Lido of the Italian lagoon city.