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VENICE 2007 Venice Days

A map of the (cinematic) world

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Founded in 2004 from the Director’s Fortnight model of Cannes, Venice Days (artistically directed for the second consecutive year by critic Fabio Ferzetti) has extended its “investigative” territories over the years to include not only Europe and not only debut (or second) films.

The programme of the fourth edition (held from August 30-September 8 and promoted by the filmmakers of ANAC and API during the Venice Film Festival) is made of 13 films from 11 countries from four continents. And that’s not counting the three documentaries and seminars, encounters and events that will be held at the Filmmakers Villa, the section’s headquarters.

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The section’s objective? To trace a map of the contemporary (cinematic) world, of the anxieties that traverse it at all latitudes and the humour hidden behind the filmmakers’ personal unease. The films will vie for the Label Europa Cinémas award, which guarantees the winning film its promotion and long run on 1,689 affiliated screens; as well as, for Italy, the printing of at least five copies of the film, offered by Technicolor.

The debut films are both French-language, and will also compete for the Lion of the Future award (which for the last two years has gone to a Venice Days title): Quebec director Stéphane Lafleur’s Continental, un film sans fusil, a tragicomic story of solitude, and French film La pluie des prunes, by theatrical director Frédéric Fisbach, a reversal of the themes in Lost in Translation that features a wonderful performance by Adriana Asti.

There are more second films: the thriller La zona by Rodrigo Plá, a hig budget Spanish/Mexican co-production; Poland’s Sztuczki by Andrzej Jakimowski, an unusual tale of childhood that is both tender and desperate; Andalucia [+see also:
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by Alain Gomis (who won an award at Locarno for his L’Afrance), starring a surprising Samir Guesmi; and Under the Bombs by Philippe Aractingi, a journey into the contradictions of Lebanon, shot during the Beirut bombings last summer.

Futher films include Sabina Guzzanti’s mockumentary Sympathy for the Lobster; the allegorical Cargo 200 by Alexey Balabanov (the troubles of the USSR reworked by genre cinema); the horror fable Freischwimmer, which after years in television sees Germany’s Andreas Kleinert return to the big screen; and Un baiser, s’il vous plaît! by the prolific Emmanuel Mouret, a young talent of French comedy.

Returning eight years after their last films are US director Ed Radtke (with Superheroes, on absent fathers, one of the section’s leit-motifs) and Italy’s Gianni Zanasi (Non pensarci [+see also:
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, the portrait of a dogged but failed rock guitarist) and Salvatore Maira (Valzer, a modern melodrama shot in a single sequence).

Rounding out the programme are three documentaries: Buongiorno Culini. Vita e opere di Luciano Bianciardi by Massimo Coppola and Alberto Piccinini (on the author of La vita agra); the posthumous Born Without by Eva Norvind (on José Flores, who was born without arms and has appeared in numerous films by Jodorovsky); and Viaggio in corso nel cinema di Carlo Lizzani by Francesca Del Sette, on the 80 year-old Italian director.

Lastly, the 100 + 1. Cento film e un Paese, l’Italia project continues, backed by the Ministry of Culture and promoted last year by Venice Days, which aims to preserve Italian cinema. An advisory committee is currently working to define the criteria of the selection of the first 100 films to save. The section will also include a presentation of the project, at which filmmakers, film historians and institutions will participate.

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(Translated from Italian)

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