71st Venice Film Festival Lineup

Organizers announced this morning the 20 films that will compete for the Golden Lion in the current edition of La Mostra, a selection that included several films that we were expecting in Cannes and now we find them here. Great. So Venezia71 competition has films by well-known directors like Benoît Jacquot, Fatih Akin, Xavier Beauvois, Abel Ferrara and Andrei Konchalovsky.

Can't complain about the main competition as there are films from several countries but it's appalling that there is not even one film from Latin America and when we check films in the Official Selection plus Autonomous Sections, the Latin American absence becomes disconcerting. Also disconcerting is the strong presence of American films (3 in competition plus too many to count in Orizzonti and other sections) so here I am wondering what is happening with world cinema when there is very little presence of Latin America and such a strong presence by USA. Not good news for me, sigh.

In a positive note the Official Selection has 55 films of which 54 are World premieres and 1 is an International premiere. Venezia71 Competition has 20 films, 19 World premieres and 1 International premiere. Organizers received and viewed 3,377 films of which 1,600 were feature films and 1,777 were short films.

Official Selection

Venezia71 Competition

Opening film: Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, USA and France
3 Coeurs, Benoît Jacquot, France
99 Homes, Ramin Bahrani, USA
Anime Nere (Black Souls), Francesco Munzi, Italy and France
Белые ночи почтальона Алексея Тряпицын Belye nochi pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna (The Postman's White Nights), Andrei Konchalovsky, Russia
闯入者 Chuangru Zhe (Red Amnesia), Xiaoshuai Wang, China
En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence), Roy Andersson, Sweden, Germany, Norway and France
قصه ها Ghesseha (Tales), Rakhshan Bani E'temād, Iran
Good Kill, Andrew Miccol, USA
Hungry Hearts, Saverio Costanzo, Italy
Il Giovane Favoloso, Mario Martone, Italy
La rançon de la gloire (The Price of Fame), Xavier Beauvois, France, Belgium and Switzerland
Le dernier coup de marteau (The Last Hammer Blow), Alix Delaporte, France
Loin des Hommes (Far From Men), David Oelhoffen, France
Manglehorn, David Gordon Green, USA
野火 Nobi (Fires on the Plain), Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan
Pasolini, Abel Ferrara, France, Belgium and Italy
(*) Sivas, Kaan Müjdeci, Turkey
The Cut, Fatih Akin, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Canada, Poland and Turkey
The Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Norway and UK (documentary)

Jury
President: Alexandre Desplat, film composer, France
Elia Suleiman, director, Palestine
Philip Gröning, director, Germany
Carlo Verdone, actor and director, Italy
Joan Chen, actress, USA and China
Jessica Hausner, scriptwriter and director, Austria
Jhumpa Lahiri, scriptwriter, UK
Sandy Powel, costume designer, UK
Tim Roth, actor, UK

Out of Competition
Closing Film: 黄金时代 Huang jin shi dai (The Golden Era), Ann Hui, China and Hong Kong
Burrying The Ex, Joe Dante, USA
Hwajang, Kwontaek Im, South Korea
Im Keller (In The Basement), Ulrich Seidl, Austria (documentary)
La Trattativa, Sabina Guzzanti, Italy
La Zuppa del Demonio, Davide Ferrario, Italy
Nymphomaniac Volume II (Long Version) Director's Cut, Lars Von Trier, Denmark, Germany, France and Belgium
Olive Kittertidge, Lisa Cholodenko, USA (TV mini series)
O Velho do Restelo (The Old Man of Belem), Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal and France, (short film 19')
Perez, Edoardo de Angelis, Italy
Qin' Ai De (Dearest), Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Hong Kong and China
She's Funny That Way, Peter Bogdanovich, USA
The Boxtrolls, Anthony Stacchi and Annable Graham, UK (animation)
The Humbling, Barry Levinson, USA
The Sound and the Fury, James Franco, USA
Tsili, Amos Gitai, Israel, Russia, Italy and France
Un Giorno da Italini (Italy in a Day), Gabriele Salvatores, Italy and UK (documentary
Words With Gods, 9 directors, Mexico and USA

Orizzonti Competition

Feature Films
Opening Film: The President, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Georgia, France, UK and Germany
Belluscone, Una Storia Siciliana, Franco Maresco, Italy
Bypass, Duane Hopkins, UK
(*) Court, Chaitanya Tamhane, India
Cymbeline, Michael Almereyda, USA
Heaven Knows What, Josh Safdie and Ben Safdie, USA and France
(*) Ich Seh, Ich Seh (Goodnight Mommy), Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Austria
자유의 언덕 Jayuui Eondeok (Hill of Freedom), Sangsoo Hong, South Korea
(*) Kreditis Limiti (Line of Credit), Salome Alexi, Georgia, Germany and France
La Vita Oscena, Renato de Maria, Italy
Nabat, Elchin Musaogly, Azerbaijan
Near Death Experience, Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern, France
Réalité (Reality), Quentin Dupieux, France and Belgium
(*) Senza Nessuna Pietà, Michele Alhaique, Italy
Tavka Su Pravila (These are the Rules), Ognjen Sviličić, Croatia, France, Serbia and Macedonia
(*) Theeb, Naji Abu Nowar, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, UK
Your Right Mind, Ami Canaan Mann, USA

Short Films
Cams, Carl-Johan Westregård, Sweden
Castillo y el Armado, Pedro Harres, Brazil, 13'
Da Shu (Great Heat), Tao Chen, China, 13'
Era Apocrypha, Brendan Sweny, USA, 21'
Ferdinand Knapp, Andrea Baldini, France, 15'
Fi Al Waqt al Dae'A (In Overtime), Rami Yasin, Jordan and Palestine, 13'
La Bambina (Bache), Ali Asgari, Italy and Iran, 15'
Lehem (Daily Bread), Idan Hubel, Israel, 18'
Mademoiselle, Guillaume Gouix, France, 17'

Out of Competition

Feature Films
3/105, Avelina Prat and Diego Opazo, Spain, 6'
Io Sto Con La Sposa, Antonio Auguliaro, Gabriele del Grande, Khaled Soliman Al Nassiry, Iran and Palestine (documentary)

Short Films
Arta, Adrian Sitaru, Romania, 19'
L'Atessa del Maggio, Simone Massi, Italy, 8' (animated film)
Lift You Up, Ramin Bahrani, USA, 8'
Maryam, Sidi Saleh, Indonesia, 17'

Jury
President: Ann Hui, director, Hong Kong
Pernila August, actress and director, Sweden
Moran Atias, actress, Israel
David Chase, scriptwriter, producer, director, USA
Mahamat-Salet Haroun, director, Chad
Roberto Minervini, scriptwriter, director, Italy
Alin Tasçiyan, film critic, Turkey

To check all films in Venice Classics section please go here.

Check some Official Selection trailers @MOC.
Check some Orizzonti trailers @MOC

Autonomous Sections

Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days

Official Selection

(*) Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labor of Love), Adityavikram Sengupta, India
(*) Before I Disappear, Shawn Christensen, USA and UK
El 5 de Talleres (The Midfielder), Adrián Biniez, Argentina
He Ovat Paenneet (They Have Escaped), Jukka Pekka Valkeapää, Finland and Netherlands
I Nostri Ragazzi (The Dinner), Ivano De Matteo, Italy
Métamorphoses , Christophe Honoré, France
Mita Tova (The Farewell Party), Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit, Israel
(*) Les Nuits d'été (Summer Nights), Mario Fanfani, France (gt interest)
Patria, Felice Farina, Italy
Retour à Ithaque, Laurent Cantet, France and Belgium
(*) The Goob, Guy Myhill, UK
The Smell of Us, Larry Clark, France
(*) Tussen 10 en 12 (Between 10 and 12), Peter Hoogendoorn, Belgium, France and Netherlands

Out of Competition
Opening film: Il-dae-il (One on One), Kim Ki-duk, South Korea
Closing film: Messi, Alex De la Iglesia, Spain

Special Events
9x10 Novanta, (9 short films by 10 directors), 10 directors, Italy (documentary)
The Show MAS Go On, Rä di Martino, Italy
The Lack, Masbedo, Italy
Five Star, Keith Miller, USA

Women's Tales
Spark and Light, So Yong Kim
Somebody, Miranda July

To read about each of the films in Venice Days; go here.  The selection includes one film that I since I learned about it have become must be seen for me, Christophe Honoré's Metamorphoses but there are films by Laurent Cantet and Kim Ki-duk that I know will be interesting to see. The Special Events film include one short film by Alice Rohrwacher and have to say that shorts concept seems very interesting as all use old footace from the Luce Archives. Also The Show MAS Go On is no misspelling as MAS was a high-end fashion emporium last century that went downscale to become a cult location, absolutely fascinating place.

Check some Venice Days trailers @MOC.

Settimana Internazionale della Critica - Venice International Film Critics Week

As every year the 2014 selection includes seven (7) first time director's full-length films from all over the world, plus two special events. The seven films are eligible for the Lion of the Future - Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut film as well as for the RaroVideo Audience Award.

Official Selection

(*) 殯棺 Binguan (The Coffin in the Mountain), Xin Yukun, China
(*) Dancing with Maria, Ivan Gergolet, Italy, Argentina and Slovenia (documentary)
(*) Đập cánh giữa không trung (Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere), Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp, Vietnam, France, Norway and Germany
(*) Ničije dete (No One's Child), Vuk Ršumović, Serbia and Croatia
(*) Terre Battue (40-Love), Stéphane Demoustier, France and Belgium
(*) Villa Touma, Suha Arraf, Palestine
(*) Zerrumpelt Herz (The Council of Birds), Timm Kröger, Germany

Out of Competition
Opening film: Melbourne, Nima Javidi, Iran
Closing film: Arance e Martello (The Market), Diego Bianchi, Italy

To read about each film in the Critics Week go here.

(*) First Feature film, competes for Luigi De Laurentiis award for a Debut Film. There are eighteen (18) films in competition for this award.

Debut Film Jury
President: Alice Rohrwacher, writer and director, Italy
Lisandro Alonso, director, Argentina
Ron Mann, producer and director, Canada
Vivian Qu, producer and director, China
Razvan Radulescu, writer and director, Romania

To read about each film in the Settimana go here.  Seems there are some interesting films in this year selection but one absolutely calls my attention, Villa Touma, as is directed by Suha Araf, who's the scriptwriter of Eran Rikli's fantastic movies: Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree; on top, Cherien Dabis plays one of the lead roles.

Check some Settimana trailers @MOC