22/07/2011

Following in the footsteps of Isabella Ragonese last year, another young Italian actress will play host on the Lido this year. Vittoria Puccini, one of the most highly-rated actresses of the new generation (her recent credits include Kiss Me Again [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Easy Life [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), will be mistress of ceremonies at the opening and closing evenings of the 68th Venice Mostra International Film Festival (August 31-September 10, 2011).

Meanwhile, rumours are circulating about the Italian films in competition: they include Emanuele Crialese’s Terraferma [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Emanuele Crialese
film profile], starring Donatella Finocchiaro and Beppe Fiorello (see news); Cristina Comencini’s When By the Night, featuring Claudia Pandolfi and Filippo Timi (see news); and an outsider contender by debut director Gipi, L'ultimo Terrestre (“The Last Earthling”, see news).

For official confirmation, we’ll have to wait until Thursday, July 28, when Mostra director Marco Müller and Biennale president Paolo Baratta will unveil the 2011 line-up. In the meantime, we know for certain that 80-year-old maestro Ermanno Olmi’s The Cardboard Village will screen out of competition.

(Translated from Italian)