72nd Venice Film Festival Lineup - Update 1

Two new titles complete the lineup of the festival that is directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.

The first is Tharlo by Tibetan director Pema Tseden in the Orizzonti section and the second is Out of Competition documentary I ricordi del fiune by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio. Also today was announced the Orizzonti opening film and is none other than the film by Rodrigo Plá, Un Monstruo de Mil Cabezas (A Monster with a Thousand Heads).

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7/29/15
The 72nd Venice International Film Festival, organized by la Biennale di Venezia, will be held on the Lido of Venice from September 2nd to September 12th, 2015. The Festival is officially recognized by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations).

The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote the various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. In addition to the sections mentioned in the following paragraphs, the Festival also organizes retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.

The Official Selection includes the sections Venezia 72 (21 films), Out of Competition (18 films), Orizzonti, and Venice Classics, as well as the three feature films in the project, Biennale College - Cinema. The Independent and Parallel Sections include the SIC - International Critics’ Week, and the Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days.

Have no doubt that Toronto fest announcement yesterday had much to do with doing it before La Mostra as many of the films (at least the ones that call my attention) announced yesterday are also in today's announcement. But no doubt this is one of the best festivals in the world as there are also some films we expected in Cannes, didn't make it and now they are here. Also there is no doubt that this year La Biennale has another interesting lineup with great directors like Baltasar Kormákur, Jerzy Skolimowski, Aleksandr Sokurov, Cary Fukunaga, Luca Guadagnino, Pablo Trapero, Amos Gitai, Marco Bellochio, Oliver Hermanus, Sergei Loznitsa and Tom Hooper.

Nevertheless the best news for the red carpet are WHO are going to be in the festival! Most interesting are the possible attendance of Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Alicia Vikander, Tilda Swinton, Valeria Golino, Alba Rorhwacher, Matthias Schoenaerts, plus many more great actors and I'm just talking about the films in competition! When you add films in other sections the list grows to include Jake Gyllenhaal, Johnny Depp and more.

Twenty-one (21) films make the official selection in the Venezia72 competition lineup.

Official Selection

Venezia72 Competition

11 Minut (11 Minutes), Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland and Ireland
A Bigger Splash, Luca Guadagnino, Italy and France
Abluka (Frenzy), Emin Alper, Turkey, France and Qatar
Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, USA (animation)
Beasts of No Nation, Cary Fukunaga, USA and Ghana
悲兮魔兽 Bei xi mo shou (Behemoth), Zhao Liang, China and France (documentary)
(*) Desde Allá (From Afar), Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela and Mexico
El Clan, Pablo Trapero, Argentina and Spain
Equals, Drake Doremus, USA
Francofonia, Aleksandr Sokurov, France, Germany and Netherlands
Heart of a Dog, Laurie Anderson, USA (documentary)
(*) L'Attesa (The Wait), Piero Messina, Italy and France
L'Hermine (Courted), Christian Vincent, France
Looking for Grace, Sue Brooks, Australia
Marguerite, Xavier Giannoli, France, Czech Republic, and Belgium
Per Amor Vostro, Giuseppe M. Gaudino, Italy and France
רבין, היום האחרון Rabin, The Last Day, Amos Gitai, Israel and France
Remember, Atom Egoyan, Canada and Germany
Sangue del Mio Sangue (Blood of my Blood), Marco Bellocchio, Italy, France and Switzerland
The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper, UK and USA
The Endless River, Oliver Hermanus, South Africa and France

Venezia72 Jury
President: Alfonso Cuarón, director, Mexico
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director, Turkey
Hou Hsiao-hsien, director, Taiwan
Pavel Pawlikowski, director, Poland
Lynne Ramsay, director and screenwriter, UK
Francesco Munzi, director, Italy
Emmanuel Carrère, author, screenwriter and director, France
Diane Kruger, actress Germany
Elizabeth Banks, actress and director, USA

Out of Competition
Opening Film: Everest, Baltasar Kormákur, UK and USA
Closing Film: 老炮儿 Lao pao er (Mr. Six), Hu Guan, China
Black Mass, Scott Cooper, USA
Go With Me, Daniel Alfredson, USA, Canada and Sweden
La Calle de la Amargura (Bleak Street), Arturo Ripstein, Mexico and Spain
La Vie et Rien d'Autre (Life and Nothing But), Bertrand Tavernier, France, 1988
Non Essere Cattivo, Claudio Caligari, Italy
Spotlight, Thomas McCarthy, USA
那日下午 Na Ri Xiawu (Afternoon), Tsai Ming-Liang, China and Taiwan

Documentaries
De Palma, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, USA
Gli Uomini di Questa Citta io non li Conosco, Franco Maresco, Italy
Human, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, France
I ricordi del fiume, Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio, Italy
In Jackson Heights, Frederick, Wiseman, USA
Janis, Amy Berg, USA
L'Esercito Piu Piccolo del Mondo, Gianfranco Pannone, Vatican City, Italy and Switzerland
СОБЫТИЕ Sobytie (The Event), Sergei Loznitsa, Netherlands and Belgium
Молитва за Украину Winter on Fire (aka Pray for Ukraine), Evgeny Afineevsky, Ukraine and USA

Short Film
The Audition, Martin Scorsese, USA, 16' Canceled

Watch available trailers and info @MOC

Orizzonti

Feature Films (19)
Opening Film: Un Monstruo de Mil Cabezas (A Monster wit a Thousand Heads), Rodrigo Plá, Mexico
A Copy of My Mind, Joko Anwar, Indonesia and South Korea
Boi Neon (Neon Bull), Gabriel Mascaro, Brazil, Uruguay and Netherlands
(*) چهارشنبه 19 اردیبهشت Chaharshanbe 19 Ordibeheshtt (Wednesday, May 9), Vahid Jalilvand, Iran
Free In Deed, Jake Mahaffy, USA and New Zealand
(*) Interruption, Yorgos Zois, Greece, France and Croatia
Italian Gangster, Renato de Maria, Italy
Krigen (A War), Tobias Lindholm, Denmark
(*) למה עזבתני Lama Azavtani (Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?), Hadar Morag, Israel and France
Madame Courage, Merzak Allouache, Algeria, France and UAE
Man Down, Dito Montiel, USA
(*) Mate-me Por Favor (Kill Me Please), Anita Rocha Da Silveira, Brazil and Argentina
(*) Mountain, Yaelle Kayam, Israel
(*) Pecore in Erba, Alberto Caviglia, Italy
Taj Mahal, Nicolas Saada, France and Belgium
Tempete, Samuel Collardey, France
塔洛 Tharlo, Pema Tseden, China
(*) The Childhood of A Leader, Brady Corbet, UK, Hungary, Belgium and France
Visaaranai (Interrogation), Vetri Maaran, India

Short Films (14)
55 Pastillas, Sebastian Muro, Argentina, 13'
Belladona, Dubravka Turic, Coratia, 18'
Champ des Possibles, Cristina Picchi, Canada, 13' (documentary)
Dvorista (Backyards), Ivan Salatic, Montenegro, 20'
En Defensa Propia, Mariana Arriaga, Mexico, 14'
E.T.E.R.N.I.T., Giovanni Aloi, France, 11'
Hou (Monkey), Shen Jie, China, 5' (animation)
It Seems to Hang On, Kevin Jerome Everson, USA, 20'
Jer Gun Muer Rao Jer Gun (The Young Man Who Came from The Chee River), Wichanon Somumjarn, Thailand, 16'
New Eyes, Hiwot Admasu Getaneh, France and Germany, 11'
Oh Gallow Lay, Julian Wayser, USA, 20'
Seide, Elnura Osmonalieva, Kyrgyzstan, 15'
Tarântula, Aly Muritiba and Marja Calafange, Brazil, 20'
Violence en Réunion, Karim Boukercha, France, 15'

Out of Competition (1)
Zero, David Victori, USA, UK, Spain and Mexico, 28'

Orizzonti Jury
President: Jonathan Demme, director, USA
Alix Delaporte, director and screenwriter, France
Paz Vega, actress, Spain
Fruit Chan, director, Hong Kong
Anita Caprioli, Actress, Italy

Biennale College (3)
Higher-education training workshop for the development and production of micro-budget feature-length films

Baby Bump, Kuba Czekaj, Poland
Blanka, Kohki Hasei, Japan
The Fits, Anna Rose Holmer, USA

Autonomous Sections

12th Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days

Official Selection
Opening Film: (*) El Desconocido (Retribution), Dani de la Torre, Spain
Closing Film:  The Daughter, Simon Stone, Australia
(*) A peine j'ouvre les yeux (As I Open My Eyes) (aka Dieu protège ma fille), Leyla Bouzid, France, Tunisia and Belgium
(*) Arianna, Carlo Lavagna, Italy
Early Winter (aka Rest Home), Michael Rowe, Australia and Canada
(*) Island City, Ruchika Oberoi, India
(*) Klezmer, Piotr Chrzan, Poland
La Memoria del Agua (The Memory of Water), Matías Bize, Chile
La Prima Luce (First Light), Vincenzo Marra, Italy and Chile
Lolo, July Delpy, France
(*) Underground Fragrance, Song Pengfei, France and China
Viva la sposa (Long Live the Bride), Ascanio Celestini, Italy, France and Belgium

Special Events
Argentina (aka Zonda: Folclore Argentino), Carlos Saura, Argentina, Spain and France (documentary)
Harry's Bar, Carlotta Cerquetti, Italy (documentary)
Innocence of Memories - Orhan Pamuk's Museum and Istanbul, Grant Gee, UK, Ireland, and Italy (documentary)
Ma, Celia Rowlson Hall, USA
Milano 2015, Elio, Roberto Bolle, Silvio Soldini, Walter Veltroni, Cristiana Capotondi, and Giorgio Diritti, Italy (documentary)
Viva Ingrid!, Alessandro Rossellini, Italy (documentary)

Women's Tales
De Djess, Alice Rohrwacher, Italy
Les 3 boutons, Agnès Varda, Italy and France

Special Projects
Bangland, Lorenzo Berghella, Italy (animation)
Il paese dove gli alberi volano - Eugenio Barba e i giorni dell'Odin (The Country Where Trees Fly), Davide Barletti and Jacopo Quadri, Italy (documentary)
I sogni del lago salato, Andrea Segre, Italy (documentary)

Venice days will run from September 2 to 12 and to read more about the section check blog post here.

30th Settimana Internazionale della Critica - Venice International Film Critics Week

Official Selection
(*) Ana yurdu (Motherland), Senem Tuzen, Turkey and Greece
(*) Banat (Il viaggio), Adriano Valerio, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia
(*) Kalo Pothi (The Black Hen), Min Bahadur Bham, Nepal, France and Germany
(*) Light Years, Esther May Campbell, UK
(*) Montanha, João Salaviza, Portugal and France
(*) The Return, Green Zeng, Singapore
(*) Tanna, Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, Australia and Vanuatu

Out of Competition
Jia (The Family), Liu Shumin, Australia and China
Orphans, Peter Mullan, UK, 1998
Bagnoli Jungle, Antonio Capuano,Italy

Section will run from September 2 to 12 and to read more about the section check blog post here.

(*) First Feature Film competes for Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Debut Film - Lion of the Future. There are 21 films in all sections.

Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Debut Film Jury
President: Saverio Constanzo, director, Italy
Roger Garcia, producer, Hong Kong
Natacha Laurent, film critic, France
Charles Burnett, director, USA
Daniela Michel, journalist and Morelia film festival director, Mexico

Check posters for films in all sections at #Venezia72 Movie Posters.

As we already know Bertrand Tavernier will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and he will present the films he chose for the Venice Classic section.  There will be a tribute to Mario Monicelli with an installation by Chiara Rapaccini, his lifelong companion. Most interesting is the new section called The Movie Garden that will screen films and have encounters at the Casinò, event is open to the general public, occasional spectators and non-accredited festival-goers. Actress Elisa Sednaoui will host the opening and closing nights of Venezia72.

It's impossible for me not to comment that there are not many French films in Venezia72 BUT there are MANY French co-productions!!!  French money is strongly present in Venezia72! Which only talks about how strong French cinema industry is becoming or perhaps, 2014/2015 were excellent years for France produced cinema, which is just too fantastic for those that love French cinema -like me.

List could have been too long with Venice Classics sections, so will post the list in an independent post as there are films that are truly classics like the ones by Fellini, Pasolini, Chabrol, Einsenstein and Kurosawa.

Will be publishing this post perhaps sooner that what I should as there are so many great directors with new movies that are not in the main competition and wish to learn more about them, but will be doing all the work after publishing and will comment about whatever I find relevant.