28/11/2013 - A British film, an American one and an Italian one are about to enter production phases in preparation for the upcoming Venice Film Festival. Three more projects from Biennale College presented at the TorinoFilmLab

“At first it felt like a crazy challenge, but the results have proved we were right.” After the announcement of the three films to be made within the next edition of the Biennale College (Blood Cells by British Joseph Bull and Luke Seomore, Short Skin by Italian Duccio Chiarini and H by Lebanese Rania Attieh and American Daniel Garcia) and as the Turin Film Festival screens two of the three micro-budget films already produced from last edition (Yuri Esposito by Alessio Fava and Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit; the third is Memphis by Tim Sutton), the director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera, who conceived the idea from his new laboratory for low-cost development and production, has delivered his first evaluation.

“The Biennale College project first seemed like a shot in the dark. No other such endeavours exist so there was no evidence we could select a film, finance it, make it, and show it in Venice, all within the space of a year. Bravery was needed, but also a good dose of madness,” Barbera admits. “Of course, not all stories are easily adapted. You need just a few characters and a few locations. No costs for castings or moves. This is a significant opportunity for young filmmakers to make their first or second films.” 

But what future for these films? Is there any hope for distribution? “The produced films are thankfully very different one from the other. Our aim is to help filmmakers from different cultural and cinema backgrounds,” Barbera explained. “Some have already taken part in festivals and won awards. The Thai film Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy was awarded best Asian film at the 2013 Taipei Film Festival, Memphis will take part in a renowned American festival at the beginning of 2014. These are independent films with niche potential. Instead of movie theatres, the films might aim for distribution via the internet, video on demand, or television for braver channels than the Italian ones.”

The new three films selected by the Biennale College will be made with the micro-budget of €150,000 each and will be ready to be presented at the next Venice Film Festival (27 August-6 September 2014). Moreover, thanks to the TorinoFilmLab, three more projects selected by the Biennale College in the 2012/2013 edition, which did not go into production because of higher costs, were able to be put forward during the recent producer meeting at the Turin festival (November 25-27). The three films are: The Substance by Lluis Galter Sanchez (Spain), Abu Naim by Mich’ael Zupraner (Israel, USA) and The Death of J.P. Cuenca by Joao Paulo Cuenca (Brazil). To learn more, download the TFL Book of Projects here.

(Translated from Italian)