At the Saint Vincent Film Festival , it was awarded Grand Prize over Luchino Visconti 's '' Il gattopardo '' ( '' The Leopard '' ) . The film screened in April at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival to " almost universal acclaim but no prize was awarded because it was shown outside the competition . Cannes rules demanded exclusivity in competition entries , and '' '' was already earmarked as Italy 's official entry in the later Moscow festival " . Presented on 18 July 1963 to an audience of 8,000 in the Kremlin 's conference hall , '' '' won the prestigious Grand Prize at the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival to acclaim that , according to Fellini biographer Tullio Kezich , worried the Soviet festival authorities : the applause was " a cry for freedom " . Jury members included Stanley Kramer , Jean Marais , Satyajit Ray , and screenwriter Sergio Amidei
3rd Moscow International Film Festival
3rd Moscow International Film Festival
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