Venecia 2010: Programa de la sección Venice Days

VENICE DAYS 2010
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN

Twelve countries, 12 films (including four feature debuts), a special event and an extraordinary closing night. A journey into cinema and contemporary Italy, through a series of portraits and landscapes of the "real." A tribute to one of the great figures of European cinema. An exciting new initiative in collaboration with the European Parliament, Europa Cinemas and Cineuropa. The continuation of the project "100+1: One hundred films and one country, Italy" with the Province of Rome and Cinecittà Luce.

The programme of the 7th Venice Days (directed by Giorgio Gosetti and promoted with ANAC and 100 AUTORI) contains all the spirit and ambition of the filmmakers who founded the independent section that takes place during the Venice International Film Festival, whose 67th edition will be held from September 1-11, 2010.

Created by the Venice Days Association (presid ed over by Roberto Barzanti) - with a contribution from the Ministry of Culture and BNL-Gruppo BNP PARIBAS (the Festival's main sponsor), and with support from Italian and foreign public and private institutions - the autonomous sidebar that has been called the "Festival's most innovative section," is, like all of Italian culture, in the midst of great crisis and uncertainty that heavily limit its potential. However, the loyalty and partnership of the Venice Biennale Foundation and the Venice Film Festival have made it possible for us to once again offer a programme that truly reflects our desire to support the independence and creativity of filmmakers, be they established maestros or newcomers with surprises in store.

"We are happy to be at Venice thanks to the commitment of the public institutions and private partners that have believed in our work since the very beginning. I must furthermore applaud the efforts made to highlight the importance of audiences at festivals, as we will do with our 'magnificent 27' young Europeans. They are proof that Venice Days' dedication extends beyond simply discovering films, to the entire film universe." (Roberto Barzanti, President of Venice Days).

Also during Venice Days, the three finalists of the European Parliament's 2010 Lux Prize will be presented, along with the Label Europa Cinemas winner of the section's Best European Film, and a special mention for creativity from 27 young viewers from all the countries of the European Union (as part of a project backed by the European Parliament).

"Coherence and diversity are the first words that come to mind in defining this year's selection, which is greatly to the credit of the colleagues who flanked me, the producers and directors who believed in us, and the institutions, privates partners and sales agents who backed us. Whereas in 2009 we wanted to push the conventions and barriers of genr es, choosing above all films that could speak to their audiences, this year we sought out audiences who could take part in our search. To our favorite judges - festival-goers and those who, thanks to the European Parliament and Europa Cinemas, come to Venice specifically for Venice Days - we offer surprising, emotional films that will stir up passions and discussions. On politics and aesthetics, human geography and utopias, style and history (human stories). In other words, films that speak to the mind and heart by using the entire arsenal of the wonderful art of cinema. Our mission is to encourage risk-taking, discovery and originality, and we think we've found just that among this year's filmmakers, in a selection that will entertain and spark debate. Which we invite audiences to consider separately and as a whole, in terms of the invisible bond that unites creativity throughout the entire world, and which can be examined through a prism of intrinsic coherence. A voice cal ls from Burkina Faso and another responds from Naples; a danger is announced in Mostar and explained in Canada; a utopia is born in the Colombian forest and hope grows in the Middle East." (Delegate General Giorgio Gosetti).


OFFICIAL SELECTION

World Premiere

LA VIDA DE LOS PECES/THE LIFE OF FISH by Matias Bize
with Santiago Cabrera, Blanca Lewin
Chile - Production co.: Cenecca Producciones
A young Chilean returns to Santiago after 10 years in Europe and ponders his past and future over a long night of encounters with old friends and his great love. This sentimental, urban comedy depicts a South America far from the stereotypes and folklore.

International Premiere - Opening film
LE BRUIT DES GLACONS/THE CLINK OF ICE by Bertrand Blier
with Jean Dujardin, Albert Dupontel, Anne Alvaro, Myriam Boyer
France, Sales co.: Wild Bunch
An alcoholic writer is confronted by an incarnation of his own cancer in this no-holds-barred, black comedy on illness and death. Nothing is spared politically incorrect derision - except for the desire to live and love. Starring the new stars of French cinema, Jean Dujardin and Albert Dupontel.

World Premiere

ET IN TERRA PAX by Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini (feature debut)
with Maurizio Tesei, Ughetta D'Onorascenzo, Michele Botrugno, Fabio Gomiero
Italy - Sales co.: Ellipsis
Early Pasolini comes to mind in this powerful tale of stolen adolescence and betrayed hopes, set against a possible future and decrepit landscape of Rome's squalid outskirts.

World Premiere

NOTRE ETRANGERE/THE PLACE IN BETWEEN by Sarah Bouyain (feature debut)
with Dorylia Calmel, Assita Ouedraogo, Nathalie Richard
Burkina Faso/France - Sales co.: Colifilms Diffusion
An African adolescent sent at a young age to live with a white family in Paris, in the hopes of a better life, sets out to find her mother. She journeys into the heart of Burkina Faso, while her mother has in the meantime moved to Paris. The feature debut of Idrissa Ouedraogu's assistant director.

World Premiere

L'AMORE BUIO by Antonio Capuano
with Irene De Angelis, Gabriele Agrio, Luisa Ranieri, Corso Salani, Valeria Golino, Fabrizio Gifuni
Italy - Production cos.: L.G.M. Ellegiemme, RAI Cinema
A moving herd offers pity to no one, neither its victims nor its most fragile members. A dramatic story of violence and tenderness by of one of Napl es' most exceptional directors returns. Starring Valeria Golino and Fabrizio Gifuni. Venice Days uses this occasion to pay its respects to Corso Salani, a sensitive actor and unique filmmaker, who made his last appearance in this film.

World Premiere
PEQUENAS VOCES by Jairo Carrillo and Oscar Andrade (feature debut)
Colombia - Production cos.: Cachupedillo Films, Jaguar Taller Digital
Survivors of the civil war between the Colombian army and paramilitary gangs, a handful of children recount their lives through elementary but beautiful drawings, which the directors used as the storyboard to an absolutely unique animated film, seven years in the making, on a possible utopia.

International premiere

THE HAPPY POET by Paul Gordon
Con Paul Gordon, Jonny Mars, Chri s Doubek, Liz Fisher
US - Production co.: St. Chris Film
With a style reminiscent of the heights of American independent cinema, such as the early works of Harry Jaglom, this heart-warming story of hope centers on a young entrepreneur who defies the global crisis and starts his own health food stand.

World Premiere
NOIR OCEAN by Marion Hänsel
with Nicolas Robin, Adrien Jolivet, Romain David
Belgium/France/Germany - Sales co.: Doc&Films International
From one of the great filmmakers of the European avant-garde, a story of three young, innocent sailors aboard a French frigate off the Polynesian coast. The year is 1972, the location Mururoa, during France's nuclear testing. Based on two short stories from Hubert Mingarelli's Océan Pacifique

International Premiere
CIRKUS COLUMBIA by Danis Tanovic<>with Miki Manojlović, Mira Furlan, Boris Ler, Jelena Stupljanin
Bosnia Herzegovina/France/GB/Slovenia/Germany/Belgium/Serbia
Sales co.: The Match Factory
The Oscar-winning Bosnian director returns home with a story of loneliness and hope, comedy and drama, on the eve of the Balkan War. To show how, overnight, lifelong friends can become bitter enemies. Starring Miki Manojlovic and based on the eponymous literary debut of Bosnian journalist Ivica Djikic.

World Premiere

INCENDIES by Denis Villeneuve
with Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard
Canada/France - Sales co.: E1 Entertainment International
A mother´s last wish sends twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Lebanon in search of their tangled roots. A powerfully stirring tale of two young adults´ voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-e nding wars and enduring love.

World Premiere

COGUNLUK/MAJORITY by Seren Yüce (feature debut)
with Bartu Küçükçağlayan, Settar Tanrioğren, Nihal Koldaş, Esme Madra
Turkey - Sales co.: The Match Factory
Life is hard for Romeo and Juliet even in Istanbul. Especially when he is a member of the conformist middle-class and she is a Kurdish girl seeking her own normalcy in a world where the majority does not allow for transgressions.

World Premiere

CIELO SENZA TERRA by Giovanni Davide Maderna and Sara Pozzoli
Italy - Production co.: Quarto Film
An experiment on cinéma vérité, with stories based on real life, where the camera and microphone seem to record the minutest details of three interwoven stories. An ensemble piece constantly suspe nded between the private life of a father and the public life of a director.

ITALY: PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES

LA VITA AL TEMPO DELLA MORTE/LIFE IN THE TIME OF DEATH by Andrea Caccia
World Premiere - Italy - Production co.: Roadmovie and Andrea Caccia

Three episodes about our society's ultimate taboo - the suffering of the dying - blend experimental cinema, documentary and first-person accounts. With the narrative rhythm and visual language of one of the most innovative talents of Italian cinema.

IL SANGUE VERDE by Andrea Segre
World Premiere - Italy - Production cos.: ZaLab, Jole Film
The Rosarno riots "survivors" speak about themselves in a colorful mix of languages, stories and adventures that are united by an incredible will to live and stay in a land that has tried to depict them as outcasts of Paradise Lost.

LISETTA CARMI. UN'ANIMA IN CAMMINO by Daniele Segre
World Premiere - Italy - Production co.: I Cammelli Sas
The incredible Lisetta Carmi was born in 1924 in Genoa, to a well-off, Jewish family. Today, she is one of the most important photographers of Italian and world history, which Daniele Segre captures as a soul in movement.

SCENA DEL CRIMINE by Walter Stokman
World Premiere - Netherlands - Production co.: Zeppers Film & TV
The Naples Questura, on a day like any other. An observer's camera captures events, stories, fragments of life and death far from the cacophony of daily horrors. An unexpected "voyage to Italy" of a foreigner who does not s eek spin and folklore but the truth beyond the headlines.

CINEMA UNDER THE SKY

HITLER A HOLLYWOOD by Frédéric Sojcher
with Maria De Medeiros, Micheline Presle
Belgium/France - Production co.: Saga Film
A truly unique mockumentary for European cinema, featuring an exceptional interviewer and an unforgettable star, Micheline Presle of Devil in the Flesh.

CAPO DIO MONTE by Pappi Corsicato
Italy, Production co.: Pappi Corsicato in association with Augusto Storero
In the National Museum of Capodimonte, arm-in-arm with Luigi Ontani and his unique creations. A virtual ballet of art.

LA SVOLTA. DONNE CONTRO L'ILVA by Valentina d'Amico
Italy, Production co.: Filmare srl
Losing one's job is not only the stuff of Western h eadlines during a crisis. It can also be yesterday's history that becomes a battle, defeat and victory all in one. Especially if told by a woman.

VOMERO TRAVEL by Guido Lombardi
Italia, Production cos.: Indigo Film, Figli del Bronx
The special day of a young man among the masses. Almost a metropolitan rap, in which prejudice and fear can unfold differently from how we are made to believe every day.

FATE LA STORIA SENZA DI ME by Mirko Capozzoli
Italy, Production co.: FOURLAB S.r.l.
The story of a young man whose life was full of memorable events: from the closure of psychiatric hospitals and the movements in 1968 and 1977 to the years of national terrorism, prison and his death from AIDS. A generation comes to term with itself.

E' STATO MORTO UN RAGAZZO by Filippo Vendemmiati
Italy, Production co.: Promo Music
On the night of September 25, 2005, 18-year-old Federico Aldrovandi was stopped by the police in Ferrara, Italy - and died. The truth behind his death has been the subject of trials, examinations and dubious admissions. Today, his death is a battle for freedom and information.

The programme will include a surprise special event, to be announced at a later date, that will be the symbol of this edition of VENICE DAYS.