Nicole Kidman misses the ceremony in Venice after her mother's death

Babygirl Screenwriter and director Halina Reijn accepted Nicole Kidman's Best Actress award on behalf of the star at the 81st Venice International Film Festival awards ceremony, as the Oscar winner had to withdraw from the event following the death of her mother.

“Today I arrived in Venice and shortly afterwards learned that my beautiful, brave mother Janelle Ann Kidman had just died,” said the body body body the filmmaker said in a statement prepared by Kidman, to audible gasps from the audience.

She continued: “I am in shock and need to go to my family, but this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she created me. I am eternally grateful that through Halina I can say her name to all of you. The collision of life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is broken.”

Reijn concluded: “We all love you, Nicole. Thank you.”

Babygirlthe erotic thriller with Kidman alongside Harris Dickinson (Triangle of sadness), premiered in Venice last week to a seven-minute standing ovation from audiences. The breakout A24 film follows Kidman's powerful executive who puts her life's work (and her relationship with her husband, played by Antonio Banderas) on the line when she begins a passionate affair with her much younger intern. The film will next screen at the Toronto International Film Festival before being released in theaters in the U.S. on Christmas Day.

In an interview with the press in Venice, Kidman described her experience during the filming as “very liberating”: “Yes, the film is obviously about sex, about desire, about one's inner thoughts, about secrets, about marriage, about truth, power, consent… This is a woman's story and I hope it is a very liberating story. It is told by a woman through her gaze… and that is what made it so unique for me: suddenly I was in the hands of a woman with this material and it was very profound and liberating to share these things.”

Babygirl The film received positive reviews across the board when it debuted at Venice, with Deadline's critic writing, “Kidman really gives it her all,” and delivering a committed performance that will likely make a splash at the Oscars.

You can read the full statement below: