18/11/2014 - The festival, which is celebrating its 24th edition from 9-14 December, pays tribute to Mario Bava. White God, Wild Tales and Black Sea are just some of the films in competition

Duality, fear and memory are the key themes of the 24th edition of the Courmayeur Noir in Festival, the traditional not-to-be-missed rendez-vous with genre film and literature taking place from 9 to 14 December, at the foot of Mont Blanc. Protagonists of the festival hosted by Giorgio Gosetti and Marina Fabbri will, like every year, have their movie premieres in the Official selection, which includes British film Black Sea by Kevin MacDonald, with Jude Law as the captain of a submarine in search of a hidden treasure at the bottom of the Black Sea. Other films in competition are English Snow in Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrew Hulme
film profile] by newcomer Andrew Hulme; Cannes award-winning White God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
film profile] by Hungarian Kornél Mundruczó, Oscar-nominated; Irish Calvary [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: John Michael McDonagh
film profile] by John Michael McDonagh with Brendan Gleeson as a priest facing the confessional secret and a death-threat; the passionate noir comedy produced by Almodóvar, Wild Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Damián Szifron; noir western The Salvation [+see also:
trailer
interview: Kristian Levring
film profile] by Kristian Levring with Mads Mikkelsen as the lonely avenger in the pursuit of Sergio Leone and American Things People Do by Saar Klein with Wes Bentley (Hunger Games). The only Italian film in competition is the debut feature In the Box by Giacomo Lesina with Antonia Liskova, a claustrophobic thriller in which a young woman wakes up to the four walls of a garage, without knowing why, and will have to find her way out.

Among the events for this edition, a tribute to Mario Bava who, exactly fifty years ago  inaugurated the Italian thriller with Blood and black lace, a film that will be screened in its restored version alongside his son Lamberto Bava and the maestro of Italian horror Dario Argento (who will also present his autobiography, “Fear”). In addition, a special celebration will be reserved for Gabriele Salvatores, who with his new film The Invisible Boy (release on 18 December) transports his passion for mystery into the realm of fantasy. Room will also be made for TV series with the TV Noir window with, among others, the American-Norwegian cult comedy drama starring Steven Van Zandt, Little Steven historic guitarist Bruce Springsteen, as a repentant gangster.

This year the Raymond Chandler Award goes to noir maestro Jeffery Deaver, who at Courmayeur will speak about his latest novel “The skin collector”, which marks the return of the quadriplegic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme, played by Denzel Washington in the adaptation of the first novel of the series, The bone collector.  Other hoped-for writers, who will meet the audience, are the five finalists of the Giorgio Scerbanenco Award for best noir novel of the year: Gianrico Carofiglio, Carlo Lucarelli, Stefano Tura, Joakim Zander, Robert Karjel and Ingrid Astier, and many others too. The festival will also offer, during its final days, the premiere of Big Hero 6, the Disney-branded animated adventure released in Italian cinema theatres on 18 December and already a huge success in the US.

The detailed festival programme will be available for consultation from the end of November here.

(Translated from Italian)