81st Venice International Film Festival

On the 50th anniversary of the death of master filmmaker Vittorio de Sica La Mostra Pre-Opening film will screen L'Oro di Napoli (The Gold of Naples) in the Sala Darsena. It is the world premiere of the digital 4K restoration.

Actress Sveva Alviti will host the Opening (Wednesday, August 28) and Closing (Saturday, September 7) ceremonies.

The festival will run from August 28 to September 9, 2024.

The Poster

Italian illustrator and artist Lorenzo Mattotti is, for the seventh consecutive year, the creative designer of the image for the official poster, which depicts an Elephant in the Lagoon, and for the sixth year, of the opening sequence for the Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia, this year in its 81st edition.

Lorenzo Mattotti writes: “What is an elephant doing in the Lagoon? It is certainly an unusual, unexpected image, but it takes us back in memory to when, many years ago, an elephant arrived in Venice and wandered around the narrow Venetian streets during a famous Biennale Carnival in 1981... This Elephant now crosses the Lagoon and travels the paths of Fantasy, Mystery and Magic that are discovered in Cinema. He himself is a Memory and also the History of Cinema: a party, a parade, a show! And this specially-coloured Elephant also reminds us of the Exotic, the Faraway, the East, a look towards other civilizations, other cultures... At the Mostra other worlds, other languages, other fantasies have always met, and have been arriving in the Lagoon for 92 years. An Elephant that goes towards the East, but which has the ability to welcome everyone."

La Mostra

By now what many industry press articles are talking about is the massive presence of so-called A-Listers or movie celebrities (alright, movie stars) that will walk the Lido red carpet and so little about the movies that made it to the shorter version selection with only 21 films.

Best news is Almodovar in competition which suggests that his first English full feature film effort could -or will- be exciting, just like his magnificent body of work is his native language. I hope. Then no doubt that Luca Guadagnino Queer has to be great and unless something wild happens, has to win the Queer Lion this year. My wild dreams came true when Pablo Larrain made it to the competition even when I do not enjoy Angelina Jolie's performances, have hope that Larrain was able to make her shine like no other director has. Then there are two directors that I'm following their careers and it's fantastic that made it to the competition: Athina Rachel Tsangari and Dea Kulumbegashvili. Last also in competition Justin Kurzel, his films are so violent but yes eventually end-up watching them, sigh.

So with only the films I mention above the "stars" that will come to La Mostra are Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, and Angelina Jolie. But the list also includes Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Amy Ryan, Nicole Kidman, Antonio Banderas, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn, Guy Pearce, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and many more from European cinema like Toni Servillo, Elio Germano, Vincent Lindon, Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino, Camille Cottin, and Ludivine Sagnier.
Right now I'm imagining all the press craziness around many of the people mentioned... plus the festival free "mileage" in the news allover the world. lol. OMG forgot Cate Blanchett from the Apple TV+ series!

Alright, will say something about the Joker 2. Of course will watch as do watch everything with Joaquin Phoenix but truly dislike Lady Gaga, she can't act and with her strong presence brings the movie down, just think what happen with House of Gucci.

Can't help sharing that been imaging what could Isabelle Huppert like. Does she like Almodovar? Does she know who Pablo Larrain is? Many more questions, let's hope she does her homework and learns about the directors to have a framework when watching their films. Yes I believe that having a framework helps watching films for either generate positive or negative reactions.

There are 83 films in the Official Selection, 21 in #Venezia81 competition, 21 Out-of-Competition (11 are documentaries and 10 fiction), 19 in #Orizzonti, 9 in Orizzonti Extra, 9 in Venezia Classici - cinema documentaries, and 4 in the Biennale College - Cinema section.

Not in the official selection there are 17 short films with 14 in Orizzonti, 18 restored feature films in Venezia Classici, and Vennice Immersive with 23 in competition out of the massive participation of 63 oeuvres.

There are 58 countries represented with 1957 feature films (206 are Italian) and 2171 short films (190 are Italian). Also, 67% percent are directed by male directors, 31% by female directors and 2% by non-declarated people.

It's interesting to notice the competition has 12 directors participating for the first time; so, the Boukherma brothers, the Coulin sisters, Maura Delpero, Fabio Grassadoni and Antonio Piazza, dag Johan Haugerud, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Justin Kurzel, Emmanuel Mouret, Luis Ortega, Halina Reijn, and Giulia Louise Steigerwalt are first time participats to win the Golden Lion.


The Official Selection

#Venezia81 Competition
Ainda estou aqui (I'm Still Here), Walter Sellers, Brazil and France
აპრილი April, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Georgia, France and Italy
Babygirl, Halina Reijn, USA
Campo di Battaglia (Battlefield), Gianni Amelio, Italy
Diva Futura, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, Italy
El Jockey (Kill The Jockey), Luis Ortega, Argentina and Spain
Harvest, Athina Rachel Tsangari, UK, Germany, Greece, France and USA
Iddu (Sicilian Letters), Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, Italy and France
Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips, USA
Jouer avec le feu (The Quiet Son), Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, France
Kjærlighet (Love), Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway
Leurs enfants après eux (And Their Children After Them), Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma, France
Maria, Pablo Larraín, Italy, Germany and USA
Mò shì lù (Stranger Eyes), Yeo Siew Hua, Singapore, Taiwan, France and USA
青春：归 Qīngchūn: Guī (Youth - Homecoming), Bing Wang, France, Luxembourg and Netherlands (documentary)
Queer, Luca Guadagnino, Italy and USA
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet, UK
The Order, Justin Kurzel, Canada
The Room Next Door, Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Trois Amies (Three Friends), Emmanuel Mouret, France
Vermiglio (Vermiglio, The Mountain Bride), Maura Delpero, Italy, France and Belgium

Competition Jury
President: Isabelle Huppert, actress, France
James Gray, director, USA
Andrew Haigh, writer and director, UK
Agnieszka Holland, screenwriter, producer and director, Poland
Klebler Mendonça Filho, screenwriter, director and film programmer, Brazil
Abderrahmane Sissako, director, screenwriter and producer, Mauritania
Giuseppe Tornatore, screenwriter and director, Italy
Julia von Heinz, screenwriter and director, Germany
Zhang Ziyi, actress, China

Out of Competition

Feature Films
Opening Film: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton, USA
Closing Film: L'Orto Americano, Pupi Avanti, Italy
Baby Invasion, Harmony Korine, USA
Broken Rage, Takeshi Kitano, Japan
クラウド Cloud, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Japan
Finalement, Claude Lelouch, France
Il Tempo che ci vuole, Francesca Comencini, Italy and France
Maldoror, Fabrice du Welz, Belgium and France
Phantosmia, Lav Diaz, Philippines
Wolfs, Jon Watts, USA

Short Films
Allégorie citadine, Alice Rohrwacher and JR, France, 21'
Beauty is Not a Sin, Nicolas Winding Refn, Italy and Denmark, 7' 
Se Posso Permettermi - Capitolo II, Marco Bellocchio, Italy, 20'

Non Fiction
2073, Asif Kapadia, UK and USA
Apocalipse nos Trópicos (Apocalypse in the Tropics), Petra Costa, Brazil
Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari, Massimo d'Anolfi and Martina Parenti, Italy and Sweitzerland
Israel Palestina på Svensk TV 1958-1989 (Israel Palestine On Swedish TV 1958-1989), Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden, Finland and Denmark
One to One: John and Yoko, Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, UK
Пісні землі, що повільно горить Pisni zemli, shcho povilno horyt’ (Songs of Slow Burning Earth), Olha Zhurba, Ukraine, Denmark and Sweden
Riefenstahl, Andres Veiel, Germany
Russians At War, Anastasia Trofimova, France and Canada
Separated, Errol Morris, USA and Mexico
TWST -Things We Said Today, Andrei Ujică, France and Romania
Why War?, Amos Gitai, Israel, France, Switzerland and Italy

TV Series
Disclaimer , Alfonso Cuarón, UK and USA (Ep 1 to 7)
Familier som vores (Families Like Ours), Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Belgium, Norway and Germany (Ep 1 to 7)
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapeter 2, Kevin Costner, USA
Leopardi. Il Poeta dell'Infinito (Parts 1 and 2), Sergio Runini, Italy
Los Años Nuevos (The New Year's Eves'), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spain (Ep 1 to 10)
M. Il Figlio del secolo (M: Son of the Century), Joe Wright, Italy and France (Ep 1 to 8)

Special Screenings
Master and Comander: The Far Side of the World, Peter Weir, USA 2003

To check available posters for films in the above sections go pinterest here.

Orizzonti

Feature Films
Competition

Opening Film: Nonostante (Notwithstanding), Valerio Mastandrea, Italy
عائشة Aïcha, Mehdi Barsaoui, Tunisia, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Qatar
Al klavim veanashim (Of Dogs and Men), Dani Rosenberg, Israel and Italy
Anul nou care n-a-fost (The New Year That Never Came), Bogdan Mureşanu, Romania and Serbia
Carissa, Jason Jacobs and Delmar Devon, South Africa
Diciannove (Nineteen), Giovanni Tortorici, Italy and UK
Familia, Francesco Costabile, Italy
Familiar Touch, Sarah Friedland, USA
Happyend, Neo Sora, Japan and USA
Hemme’nin öldüğü günlerden biri (One of Those Days when Hemme Dies), Murat Fıratoğlu, Turkey
L'Attachement, Carine Tardieu, France and Belgium
Marco (The Invented Truth), Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi, Spain
Mistress Dispeller, Elizabeth Lo, China and USA (documentary)
Mon inséparable (My Everything), Anne-Sophie Bailly, France
Pavements, Alex Ross Perry, USA
रानीगंज Pooja, Sir, Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal, USA and Norway
Quiet Life, Alexandros Avranas, France, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Estonia and Finland
Wishing on a Star, Péter Kerekes, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia and Czech Republic (documentary)
Yin’ād alīku (Happy Holidays), Scandar Copti, Palestine, France, Germany, Italy and Qatar

Orizzonti Extra

Opening Film: September 5, Tim Fehlbaum, Germany
After Party, Vojtĕch Strakatý, Czech Republic
Al bahs an manfaz i khrough al sayed Rambo (Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo), Khaled Mansour, Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Gecenin kiyisi (Edge of the Night), Türker Süer, Germany and Turkey
King Ivory, John Swab, USA
La Storia del Frank e della Nina, Paola Randi, Italy and Sweden
Le Mohican, Frédéric Farrucci, France
Shahed (The Witness), Nader Saeivar, Germany and Austria
Vittoria, Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, Italy

Short Films
Line-up of the 13 Orizzonti Short Films whose production involves 16 different countries around the world.

Competition
Duyao Mao (The Poison Cat), Tian Guan, China. 17'
Il burattino e la balena, Roberto Catani, France and Italy, 8'
James, Andrés Rodríguez, Guatemala and Mexico, 20'
Marion, Joe Weiland and Finn Constantine, France and UK, 13'
Minha Mãe é uma Vaca (My Mother is a Cow), Moara Passoni, Brazil, 15'
Moon Lake, Jeannie Sui Wonders, USA, 12'
Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış (Almost Certainly False), Cansu Baydar, Turkey, 20'
Nime Baz, Nime Basteh (Ajar), Atefeh Jalali, Iran, 12'
O, Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland and Sweden, 20'
René va alla guerra (Rene goes to War), Mariachiara Pernisa, Luca Ferri and Morgan Menegazzo, Italy and Slovenia, 18' (documentary)
الظلال Shadows, Rand Beiruty, France and Jordan, 11'  (animation)
Three Keenings, Oliver McGoldrick, UK, Ireland and USA, 10'
Who Loves The Sun, Arshia, Shakiba, Canada, 19' (documentary)

Out of Competition
F II - Lo Stupore del Mondo, Alessandro Rak and Gianmaria Fresa, Italy, 6'

Orizzonti Jury
President: Debra Granik, screenwriter and director, USA
Ali Asgari, writer, director and producer, Iran
Soudade Kaadan, director and screenwriter, Syria
Christos Nikou, director, screenwriter and producer, Greece
Tuva Novotny, actress and director, Sweden
Gábor Reisz, director, Hungary
Valia Santella, screenwriter and director, Italy

To check Orizzonti available posters go pinterest here.

Luigui de Laurentiis Award for Debut Film Jury
President: Gianni Canova, film critic, Italy
Ricky D'Ambrose, writer and director, USA
Barbara Paz, visual artist, producer and director, Brazil
Taylor Russel, actress and director, Canada
Jacob Wong, film festival curator and producer, China

Venice Classics
Venice Classics presents the world premiere screenings of 18 film restorations of masterpieces completed over the past year from film libraries, cultural institution and productions around the world. Among the many anniversaries that will be commemorated is Marcello Mastroianni birth centennial and 50 years since Vittorio De Sica death.

To read more about the section plus all films in Venice Classics go official site here. Worth mentioning is that the documentaries about cinema and its practitioners lineup is not announced yet.

Venice Immersive
One of the festival sections that has been growing and growing as XR - Extended Reality becomes more and more accepted. Launched in 2017, the section represents the first competition and official selection for works in Extended Reality in an A-list festival. Entirely devoted to immersive arts and media and includes all types of creative XR expression: 360° videos, virtual and mixed reality and XR works of any length, including installations, haptics and virtual worlds.

Venice Immersive will present 63 projects from 25 countries and to learn more about the projects go official site announcement here.

Australian director Peter Weir and Sigourney Weaver will receive each a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.  Claude Lelouch will receive Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker award.