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VENICE 2016 Orizzonti

Orizzonti: A showcase for budding directors

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- The line-up of the Venice section dedicated to new aesthetic and expressive trends has been unveiled

Orizzonti: A showcase for budding directors
The Fury of a Patient Man by Raul Arevalo

The line-up for the Orizzonti section of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival (31 August – 10 September), which was unveiled today by its director, Alberto Barbera, is made up of 19 feature films and 16 short films by auteurs from all over the world. The films chosen for this, the most experimental section of the festival, will be judged by a team headed up by French director Robert Guédiguian. Barbera himself pointed out that audiences will be able to see most of the films in the Orizzonti line-up online at the same time as they are screened in Venice, as a way of "casting the net wider for audience members through the internet".

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Italy is represented by I Was a Dreamer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Borghi
interview: Michele Vannucci
film profile
]
 by Michele Vannucci and Liberami [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Federica Di Giacomo. A debut piece which was produced by Giovanni Pompili’s company Kino and is being sold by True ColoursI Was a Dreamer tells the story of Mirko, a 39-year-old criminal from Rome who is suddenly elected – almost unanimously and without his knowledge – as president of his local council. Life for Mirko changes drastically: no more drug dealing, no more violence, no more indifference. The cast features up-and-coming actor Alessandro Borghi (Don’t Be Bad [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 and Suburra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefano Sollima
film profile
]
). Federica Di Giacomo instead brings us his third documentary, Liberami, about the return of exorcisms to the modern world: every year, more and more people blame their discontent on ‘possession’ in Italy, Europe, and all over the world. The Church has responded to this spiritual crisis by appointing an increasing number of priests as exorcists and organising training courses. 

Raúl Arévalo, who starred in To Steal from a Thief [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Calparsoro
film profile
]
, brings us his directorial debut with The Fury of a Patient Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raúl Arévalo
film profile
]
, which was written with David Pulido. The cast features Antonio de la Torre (Marshland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alberto Rodríguez
film profile
]
) and Luis Callejo (The Mule [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
). The film was produced by La Canica Films and Televisión Española (TVE), and is slated for release in Spain on 9 September, after being screened at Venice. 

Orizzonti will also feature a mockumentary with undertones of the absurd, King of the Belgians [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Br…
film profile
]
, the fourth feature film by Golden Lion winners (with their debut piece Khadak [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth
interview: Jessica Woodworth
film profile
]
Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, who imagine King Nicolas III on a state visit to Istanbul when southern Belgium declares independence. The sovereign must return home straight away, but a geomagnetic storm shuts down the airports and all lines of communication. Thus begins an odyssey across the Balkans, during which the King discovers the real world along with himself. Starring Peter Van den BeginLucie Debay and Titus De Voogdt, the film was produced by Bo Films with Entre Chien et Loup (Belgium), Topkapi Films (the Netherlands), and Art Fest (Bulgaria).

This year Portuguese cinema is being represented at Venice by Marco Martins, a film that tells the story of an unemployed boxer who accepts a difficult job working in a debt-collection agency. The film stars Nuno Lopes, who previously worked with the director on Alice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marco Martins
interview: Nuno Lopes
film profile
]
, alongside Beatriz Batarda, Mariana Nunes and Gonçalo Waddington, and a series of amateur actors. São Jorge [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Martins
film profile
]
, which was produced by Filmes do Tejo, is expected to be released in Portugal on 3 November.

Heal the Living [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile
]
 is the third feature film by Katell Quillévéré, following on from Love Like Poison [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(which was screened in Directors’ Fortnight in 2010 and won the Jean Vigo Prize) and Suzanne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile
]
 (shown in Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2013). An adaptation of the book of the same name by Maylis de Kerangal, which was published in 2014, the film stars Anne Dorval and Emmanuelle Seigner. Produced by Les Films PelléasLes Films du Bélier and Belgian company Frakas Production and France 2 Cinéma, the film is slated for release in France for the beginning of November. 

Last but not least, European films featuring in the line-up include the dramatic The Eremites [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Ronny Trocker, which was filmed on the Alps in South Tyrol and produced by Zischlermann Filmproduktion in co-production with Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices, and Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fien Troch
film profile
]
, the fourth feature film by young Flemish director Fien Troch, who won the Arte International Prize at the TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event. Once again, Troch worked on this film with Antonino Lombardo of Prime Time, who produced her three previous films.

Orizzonti - Competition

The Fury of a Patient Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raúl Arévalo
film profile
]
 – Raúl Arévalo (Spain)
King of the Belgians [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Br…
film profile
]
 – Peter Brosens & Jessica Woodworth (Belgium/Netherlands/Bulgaria)
Through The Wall – Rama Burshtein (Israel)
Liberami [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (documentary) – Federica Di Giacomo (Italy/France)
Big Big World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Reha Erdem
film profile
]
 – Reha Erdem (Turkey)
Traces of Sin (Gukoroku) – Ishikawa Kei (Japan)
Shambles (Maudite Poutine) – Karl Lemieux (Canada)
São Jorge [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Martins
film profile
]
 – Marco Martins (Portugal/France)
Dawson City: Frozen Time [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Bill Morrison (US/France)
Heal the Living [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile
]
 – Katell Quillevere (France/Belgium)
White Sun [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal/US/Qatar/Netherlands)
Malaria – Parviz Shahbaz (Iran)
Kekszakallu – Gaston Solnicki (Argentina)
Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fien Troch
film profile
]
 – Fien Troch (Belgium)
The Eremites [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Ronny Trocker (Germany/Austria)
I Was a Dreamer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Borghi
interview: Michele Vannucci
film profile
]
 – Michele Vannucci (Italy)
Boys In the Trees – Nicholas Verso (Australia)
Bitter Money [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Wang Bing (Hong Kong/France)

Orizzonti - Out of Competition

Dark Night – Tim Sutton (US)

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(Translated from Italian)

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