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VENICE 2014 Orizzonti

Great directors and young filmmakers in competition in Venice's "second competition"

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- Three Italians in Orizzonti section: Alhaique, De Maria and Maresco. Also among those selected are Makhmalbaf, Dupieux, Delépine and Kervern and Croatian Svilicic

Great directors and young filmmakers in competition in Venice's "second competition"
Obscene Life by Renato De Maria

Eighteen world premieres, including one documentary out of competition, make up the selection of what festival director Alberto Barbera has defined as “the second competition” of the Venice Film Festival, the 71st edition of which will take place from 27 August to 6 September: the Orizzonti section. 

There are three Italian titles selected in competition: Senza nessuna pieta (no mercy), Michele Alhaique's first feature film, with Pierfrancesco Favino (who is also producer), Greta Scarano, Claudio Gioè, Adriano Giannini and Ninetto Davoli; Obscene Life by Renato De Maria, based on Aldo Nove's novel by the same name, with Isabella Ferrari, Clément Métayer and Roberto De Francesco; and Belluscone, una storia siciliana (Berlusconi, a Sicilian story) by Franco Maresco (an old buddy of Daniele Ciprì), a film which promises to be particularly dense and provocative. 

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The opening ceremony of Orizzonti marks the momentous return to Venice of Iranian Mohsen Makhmalbaf with The President (Georgia, France, Great Britain, Germany), described by Barbera, today at the presentation of the official line-up in Rome as, “a surprising film, a political apologue about the fall of dictators”. France is also present with Near Death Experience [+see also:
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, “a curious, strange and bizarre  movie, from duo Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, the “surreal and entertaining” Reality by Quentin Dupieux, co-produced with Belgium, and then the first work by two New York brothers, Heaven Knows What from Josh and Ben Safdie (USA, France), another first work, Line of Credit by Salome Alexi (Georgia, Germany, France), and These Are the Rules [+see also:
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by Croatian Ognjen Svilicic (Croatia, France, Serbia, Macedonia). 

Austria and Great Britain will also be representing European cinema at Orizzonti, with, respectively, I Spy/I Spy by Veronika Franz (wife of Ulrich Seidl) and Severin Fiala, and Bypass by Duane Hopkins (GB also co-produces Theeb by Naji Abu Nowar). Finally, out of competition is the “politically incorrect” documentary On the Bride's Side, made through crowd funding and directed by Antonio Augugliaro, Gabriele Del Grande and Khaled Soliman Al Nassiry (Italy, Palestine).

The international jury of the Orizzonti section, chaired by Hong Kong director Ann Hui, will be composed of Israeli actress Moran Atias, Swedish actress and director Pernilla August, US screenwriter, director and TV producer David Chase, Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Italian director and screenwriter Roberto Minervini and Turkish cinema critic Alin Tasciyan

In addition this year Orizzonti will have its own Web Room, a virtual room where it will be possible to watch the section movies in streaming online, parallel to the official showings on the Lido. The movie screenings will be available in international territory on Festival Scope (www.festivalscope.com) and in Italy on MYmovies.it (www.mymovies.it/live).

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(Translated from Italian)

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