Thank you all gals and guys for sharing your thoughts.
So many question marks for me as to why the Italian Academy went for CRASH and not BBM, exactly copying what the Movie Academy had done with the Oscars.
The only saving grace was that at least, when it was shown at the Venice Film Festival, BBM was greeted by the public actually standing up and clapping their hands, before being assigned the Golden Lion, a testimony on how it had been perceived as a genuine masterpiece and a work of art. It's undeniable, BBM is indeed a beautiful movie in every sense (the story, the making, its visual graphics, its music), and it was perfect for a prize at an event like the Venice Film Festival. That's a more sophisticated event, where usually less "commercial" and more "artistic" movies are awarded.
Starboardlight made a good point on the fact that by having the movie dubbed in other languages, it would have lost part of its appeal, which is true: and also the quality of the voices of people actually dubbing could have made a big difference. But I don't feel this was a determinant factor in the fact that BBM was not awarded the David di Donatello. Its actual dubbing was not bad at all, though you lost a number of passages, but most of the original character was maintained.
No, dear friends, I'm afraid BBM lost this prize because... I don't know friends, I really don't know! And will continue to ask myself why it could happen again.
Luigi