Molaioli's film stars David di Donatello Best Actor winner Toni Servillo as a district police chef who investigates the death of a girl found by a lake near a quiet village in the Italian Dolomites. The screenplay by Sandro Petraglia, which won the Best Screenplay award, is an adaptation of a Norwegian crime novel by Karin Fossum. The film also won Best Director and Best New Director for Molaioli, Best Sound, Best Special Effects, Best Editing and Best Producer.

Historical epic I vicerè (The Viceroys) from director Roberto Faenza  won the categories Best Costumes, Best Make-up and Best Hair. European co-production Irina Palm from Sam Garbarski and starring Marianne Faithful was crowned Best European Film, while Oscar-winner No Country for Old Men won the Best Foreign Film Award. Barbara Cupisti's Madri (Mothers), about war mothers, won the Best Documentary David di Donatello.