28/07/2011

The 68th Venice Film Festival has already set a record: all films in the Official Selection (22 in Competition, 19 Out-of-Competition, 24 in Horizons) will be shown in world premiere. "This is the first time in history", declared the Festival’s Director Marco Müller as he presented the programme in Rome today. The selection reflects a dialogue between cinema and other arts, be it cartoons or video art, and with many first and second works.

The real outsider of this year’s competition, Gianni Pacinotti, aka Gipi, comes from the world of cartoons: his debut work L'ultimo terrestre, which imagines aliens landing on Earth, will represent Italy in competition, together with Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese (also produced by France) and Quando la notte by Cristina Comencini.

Also from the cartoon world comes the Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud duo (Persepolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marc-Antoine Robert
interview: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Pa…
film profile]), who will compete with Poulet aux prunes (France/Belgium/Germany), with Mathieu Amalric and Maria de Medeiros. France will also be represented by one of this edition’s most-awaited films: Carnage by Roman Polanski (produced together with Germany, Spain and Poland), with Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly.

Other great names emerging at the Venice 68 competition include David Cronenberg with A Dangerous Method (Germany/Canada), with Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen, America’s Abel Ferrara with 4:44 Last Day On Earth, with Willem Dafoe, and Philippe Garrel with Un été brulant (France/Italy/Switzerland), starring Monica Bellucci and Louis Garrel. Let’s not forget George Clooney and his The Ides of March, which will open the Festival (see news) on August 31.

European films in competition include Britain’s Wuthering Heights by Andrea Arnold, Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy by Tomas Alfredson (produced together with Germany), with Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, and Shame, Steve McQueen’s second work after the great success of Hunger, as well as Greece’s Alps by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Films of note out-of-competition include W.E., Madonna’s second work, Wilde Salome by Al Pacino and Il villaggio di cartone by Ermanno Olmi. Among the most awaited out-of-competition Events is the documentary about rocker Vasco Rossi, Questa storia qua.

Competition

The Ides Of March - George Clooney (US) [opening film]
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Tomas Alfredson (UK, Germany)
Wuthering Heights [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile] - Andrea Arnold (UK)
Texas Killing Fields - Ami Canaan Maan (US)
Quando La Notte - Cristina Comencini (Italy)
Terraferma [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Emanuele Crialese
film profile] - Emanuele Crialese (Italy/France)
A Dangerous Method [+see also:
trailer
interview: The team of A Dangerous Met…
film profile] - David Cronenberg (Germany/Canada)
4:44 Last Day On Earth - Abel Ferrara (US)
Killer Joe - William Friedkin (US)
Un Ete Brulant - Philippe Garrel (France/Italy/Switzerland)
A Simple Life (Taojie) - Ann Hui (China/Hong Kong)
The Exchange (Hahithalfut) - Eran Kolirin (Israel)
Alps (Alpeis) -Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)
Shame - Steve McQueen (UK)
L’ultimo Terrestre - Gian Alfonso Pacinotti (Italy)
Carnage [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Roman Polanski (France/Germany/Spain/Poland)
Chicken With Plums [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud (France/Belgium/Germany)
Faust - Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)
Dark Horse - Todd Solondz (US)
Himizu - Sion Sono (Japan)
Seediq Bale - Wei Te-Sheng (Taiwan)

Out of Competition

Vivan las Antipodas! - Victor Kossakovsky
(Germany/Argentina/Holland/Chile/Russia) [opening film]
Damsels In Distress - Whit Stillman (US) [closing film]
La Folie Almayer - Chantal Akerman (Belgium/France)
The Sorcerer And The White Snake (Baish Echuanshuo) - Tony Ching Siu-Tung (China/Hong Kong)
Giochi D’estate - Rolando Colla (Switzerland/Italy)
La Desintegration - Philippe Faucon (Belgium)
The Moth Diaries - Mary Harron (Canada/Ireland)
Alois Nebel - Tomas Lunak (Czech Republic/Germany)
W.E. - Madonna (UK)
Eva - Kike Maillo (UK)
Scossa - Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo Gregoretti, Nino Russo (Italy)
La Cle Des Champs - Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou (France)
Il Villaggio Di Cartone - Ermanno Olmi (Italy)
Wilde Salome - Al Pacino (US)
Tormented - Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
Contagion - Steven Soderbergh (US)
La Meditazione Di Hayez - Mario Martone (Italy) (short)
Tahrir 2011 - Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama (Egypt)
The End - Collectif Abounaddara (Syria)
Vanguard - Colleftif Abounaddara (Syria)
Evolution (Megaplex)(3D - Marco Brambilla (US)

Out of Competition Events

Questa Storia Qua - Alessandro Paris, Sibylle Righetti (Italy)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel - Lisa Immordino Vreeland (US)
Golden Career Lion - Nel Nome Del Padre - Marcho Bellocchio (Italy)

(Translated from Italian)