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.

Venecia 2009: todos los premios

PRIZES OF THE 66TH VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY

GOLDEN LION "Lebanon" (Samuel Maoz, Israel-France-Germany)

SILVER LION "Women Without Men" (Shirin Neshat, Germany-Austria-France)

GRAND JURY PRIZE "Soul Kitchen" (Fatih Akin, Germany)

ACTOR Colin Firth ("A Single Man," US)

ACTRESS Ksenia Rappoport ("The Double Hour," Italy)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI PRIZE FOR YOUNG PERFORMER Jasmine Trinca ("The Big Dream," Italy)

BEST SCREENPLAY Todd Solondz

("Life During Wartime," US)

TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION for Set Design Sylvie Olive ("Mr Nobody," Jaco Van Dormael, France)

OTHER JURIES

LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS LION OF THE FUTURE "Engkwentro," (Pepe Diokno, Philippines)

VENICE HORIZONS "Engkwentro" (Pepe Diokno, Philippines)

VENICE HORIZONS DUCUMENTARY "1428," (Du Haibin (China)

VENICE HORIZONS SPECIAL MENTION "The Man’s Woman And Other Stories," (Amit Dutta, India)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO "Cosmonauta," Susanna Nichiarelli (Italy)

Special Mention "Negli Occhi," Daniele Anzillotti and Francesco Del Grosso (Italy)

Label Europa Cinemas - Venice Days 2009 Prize "The Last Days of Emma Blank," (Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands)

FIPRESCI (INTL. CRITIC'S ASSN) COMPETITION PRIZE Lourdes," (Jessica Hausner, Austria)

FIPRESCI HORIZONS AND CRITICS’ WEEK PRIZE "Adrift." (Bui Thac Chuyen, Vietnam - France)

SHORTS

Corto Cortissimo Lion for Best Short Film "First Born," (Etienne Kallos, South Africa-US)

Best European Short "Sinner," (Meni Philip Israel)

Corto Cortissimo Special Mention "Felicità," (Salome Aleksi, Georgia)

Venice, Critics Week honor films (Variety)

VENICE -- Two first winners have emerged at the Venice Film Festival from in the independently run Venice Days and Critics Week sections.

Dutch helmer Alex van Warmerdam's dark comedy "The Last Days of Emma Blank," about a despotic old lady who, from her deathbed, drives the people around her crazy, has scooped the Venice Days Europa Cinemas nod.

The Dutch/Belgian co-production, which also unspools in Toronto, is being sold by Fortissimo Films.

Paris-based Iranian helmer Nader Takmil Homayoun's "Tehroun," which depicts a twilight Tehran populated with prostitutes, beggars and gangsters, took the 24th Venice Critics Week honor, which is dedicated to first works. The prize is voted on the auddience and worth E5,000 ($7,200) given by the Veneto Region.

The sixth Venice Days Europa Cinemas prize was decided by a jury of European exhibitors. The nod will give "Emma Blank" a promotional push on the EU-funded Europa Cinemas pan-European network of screens.

The 66th Venice Film Festival's official prizes will be announced during the closing ceremony on Saturday .

El nuevo filme de Adrián Caetano, a Venecia

Ayer se confirmó que la nueva película de Adrián Caetano, ahora titulado "Francia" (se la conocía como "No necesitamos de nadie"), fue seleccionada para Venice Days. Aparentemente, el corte final estuvo listo hace muy poco tiempo y los programadores esperaron por la película, incluso luego de publicar la seleccion oficial del programa.

El filme tiene guión y dirección de Caetano, quien es productor en asociación con Magma Cine. El filme cuenta con apoyo del INCAA.

El elenco protagónico es: Milagros Caetano (debut cinematográfico de la hija del director), Natalia Oreiro y Lautaro Delgado, entre otros.

Venecia 2009: programación oficial

ROME -- The Venice Film Festival on Thursday unveiled a refreshingly rich mix of established auteurs and lesser-known helmers in its lineup of 71 world preems marked by prominent U.S. and European contingents, but also ample Asian entries, and even robust representations from rarely represented countries such as Egypt and India.

66TH ANNUAL VENICE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP

COMPETITION

"Baaria," Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy) - Opening Film

"Soul Kitchen," Fatih Akin (Germany)

"La Doppia Ora," Giuseppe Capotondi (Italy)

"Accident," Cheang Pou-Soi (China-Hong Kong)

"Persecution," Patrice Chereau (France)

"Lo Spazio Bianco," Francesca Comencini (Italy)

"White Material," Claire Denis (France)

"Mr. Nobody," Jaco van Dormael (France)

"A Single Man," Tom Ford (U.S.)

"Lourdes," Jessica Hausner (Austria)

"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," Werner Herzog (U.S.)

"The Road," John Hillcoat (U.S.)

"Between Two Worlds," Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka)

"The Traveller," Ahmed Maher (Egypt)

"Lebanon," Samuel Maoz (Israel)

"Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore (U.S.)

"Women Without Men," Shirin Neshat (Germany)

"Il Grande Sogno," Michele Placido (Italy)

"36 vues du Pic Saint Loup," Jacques Rivette (France)

"Survival of the Dead," George Romero (U.S.)

"Life During Wartime," Todd Solondz (U.S.)

"Tetsuo The Bullet Man," Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)

"Prince of Tears," Yonfan (Hong Kong)

OUT OF COMPETITION

"REC 2," Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza (Spain)

"Chengdu, I Love You," Fruit Chan, Cui Jian (China) - Closing Film

"The Hole," Joe Dante (U.S.)

"The Men Who Stare at Goats," Grant Heslov (U.S.)

"Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story," Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt)

"Yona Yona Penguin," Rintaro (Japan)

"The Informant!," Steven Soderbergh (U.S.)

"Napoli Napoli Napoli," Abel Ferrara (Italy)

"Anni Luce," Francesco Maselli (Italy)

"L'oro di Cuba," Giuliano Montaldo (Italy)

"Prove per una tragedia Siciliana," John Turturro, Roman Paska (Italy)

"South of the Border," Oliver Stone (U.S.)

MIDNIGHT MOVIES

"Gulaal," Anurag Kashyap (India)

"Dev D," Anurag Kashyap (India)

"Brooklyn's Finest," Antoine Fuqua (U.S.)

"Delhi-6," Rakeysh Omprakash (India)

"Valhalla Rising," Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark)

GOLDEN LION FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2009

JOHN LASSETER AND THE DISNEY/PIXAR DIRECTORS

"Toy Story 3-D" (New Version), John Lasseter (U.S.)

"Toy Story 2-D" (New Version), John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Ash Brannon (U.S.)

HORIZONS

"Francesca," Bobby Paunescu (Romania) - Opening Film

"One-Zero," Kamla Abou Zekri (Egypt)

"Buried Secrets," Raja Amari (Tunisia)

"Tender Parasites," Christian Becker and Oliver Schwabe (Germany)

"Adrift," Bui Thac Chuyen (Vietnam)

"Crush," Petr Buslov, Aleksei German Jr., Borisd Khlebnikov, Kirill Serebrennikov, Ivan Vrypayev (Russia)

"Repo Chick," Alex Cox (U.S.)

"Engkwentro," Pepe Diokno (Philippines)

"The Man's Woman and Other Stories," Amit Dutta (India)

"Paraiso," Hector Galvez (Peru)

"Io sono l'amore," Luca Guadagnino (Italy)

"Cow," Guan Hu (China)

"Judge," Liu Jie (China)

"Pepperminta," Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland)

"Tris di donne e abiti nunziali," Martina Gedeck (Italy)

"Insolacao," Daniela Thomas and Felipe Hirsch (Brazil)

"1428," Du Haibin (China)

"I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You," Marcelo Gomes and Karim Ainouz (Brazil)

"Once Upon A Time Proletarian: 12 Tales of a Country," Guo Xiaolu (China)

"Villalobos," Romuald Karmakar (Germany)

"Il colore delle parole," Marco Simon Puccioni (Italy)

"The One All Alone," Frank Scheffer (The Netherlands)

"Toto," Peter Schreiner (Austria)

HORIZONS EVENTS

PROGRAM 1

"The Death of Pentheus," Philip Haas (U.S.)

"Faces of Soul," Gina Kim (U.S.)

"La Boheme," Werner Herzog (U.K.)

"Mudanza," Pere Portabella (Spain)

PROGRAM 2

"Deserto Rosa - Luigi Ghirri," Elisabetta Sgarbi (Italy)

"Reading Book of Blockade," Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)

"Armando Testa - Povero ma moderno," Pappi Corsicato

"La Danse - Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris," Fredrick Wiseman (U.S.)

(In Collaboration With Dance Biennale)

"Hugo en Afrique," Stefano Knuchel (Switzerland)

"Via della Croce," Serena Nono (Italy)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO ­- (NEW ITALIAN CINEMA TRENDS SIDEBAR)

"Poeti," Toni D'Angelo

"Negli occhi," Francesco del Grosso

"Il compleanno," Daniele Anzellotti, Marco Filiberti

"Dieci Inverni," Valerio Mieli

"Cosmonauta," Susanna Nicchiarelli

"Hollywood sul Tevere," Marco Spagnoli

"Il Piccolo," Maurizio Zaccaro

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO EVENTS

"Giuseppe De Santis," Carlo Lizzani

CONTROCAMPO/RETROSPECTIVE EVENTS

"Lola," Giulio Questi

"Hotel Courbet," Tinto Brass

Venice announces jury lineup (Variety)

ROME -- The Venice Film Festival has announced the complete roster for its main jury.

Joining Ang Lee, previously announced as jury prexy, will be U.S. helmer Joe Dante; Gallic thesp Sandrine Bonnaire; Italian helmer Liliana Cavani; Indian scribe-helmer Anurag Kashyap; and Italian rock star and helmer Luciano Ligabue.

Most fest jurors are longtime Lido aficionados.

Lee is a two-time Venice Golden Lion winner, in 2005 for "Brokeback Mountain," and in 2007 for "Lust, Caution."

Bonnaire won the Venice Coppa Volpi thesping prize in 1995 for her role in Claude Chabrol's "A Judgement in Stone" (La Ceremonie). Bonnaire tied for that nod with Isabelle Huppert, her co-protag in that pic.

Dante's "The Second Civil War" unspooled at the Lido in 1997.

Cavani scooped a Venice Lion in 1965 for her docu "Primo piano: Philippe Petain, processo a Vichy," and was most recently at the Lido with "Ripley's Game" in 2002.

Ligabue's first feature "Radiofreccia" bowed in Venice in 1998.

The only Venetian newcomer on the jury panel is Kashyap, a big name in Bollywood whose feature films include "Black Friday" and "Dev. D," and who collaborated with Danny Boyle on "Slumdog Millionaire."

The 66th edition of Venice will run Sept. 2-12. The lineup will be announced Wednesday.

Venice Days: Program

18 world premieres, 5 debut films, 12 fictional stories, 6 documentaries, 12 nationalities: Albania, Algeria, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA. Founded six years ago by ANAC and the filmmakers of a.p.i., presided over by Roberto Barzanti, Venice Days return on the Lido from September 3-12, once again directed by Giorgio Gosetti, who succeeds film critic Fabio Ferzetti, today head of the special project 100 + 1. One hundred films and one country, Italy.

In an objectively difficult year, during which local filmmakers and culture industry workers have mobilized in droves against the severe budget cuts to the FUS Culture Fund, Italian cinema is very much and very legitimately represented in our program by highly diverse stories, styles, sensibilities and production approaches: from Poes ia che mi guardi by Marina Spada in the official selection, to Elisabetta Pandimiglio's short film Un giorno di Vito, chosen for its original cinematic language and the strength of its subject (the difficulties of motherhood for incarcerated women), which imposes itself upon our conscience.

"This edition will be very much tied to women," says Delegate General Giorgio Gosetti, "with filmmakers, protagonists and situations that profoundly moved us and the international selection committee that flanked me in the difficult task of making the final decisions. Yet it will also be a program that, while remaining coherent to the identity of Venice Days, will leave much room for provocation, to genre cinema that has been rediscovered by younger filmmakers, to the adaptability of languages and production models, and even to laughter and satire, elements often overlooked at top festivals."

There are 12 feature films in the official selection, includ ing those by illustrious auteurs who make up recent film history yet who this year bring distinctly independent and personal works to Venice. They are Claude Miller, who with his son Nathan surprisingly made the rough and powerful "debut film" Je suis content que ma mère soit vivante; Goran Paskaljevic, who in Honeymoons depicts all the contradictions of his land, at the center of a scandal in a Europe that tries in vain to forget its recent past; Algeria's Merzak Allouache, who in Harragas accompanies his "boat people" (a microcosm of the thousands of faces of his torn country) across the Mediterranean towards an impossible dream of freedom; and Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam, who in The Last Days of Emma Blank continues his highly personal social satire down a fine line between realism and surrealism.

They will be flanked by debut filmmakers such as Léa Fehner and France's Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher, behind the poli tically incorrect horror film La Horde (a special event at Venice Days and already a cult film on the Internet and market, despite the fact that it will be premiering in Venice); numerous second films; and welcome returns, such as Spain's Daniel Sánchez-Arévalo (DarkBlueAlmostBlack), who will certainly stir up controversy with his ruthless satire, Gordos.

There will be five Films on Reality proposed as a special program created to place special emphasis on a form of expression that is enjoying particular success in Italy today. They are Paola Sangiovanni's passionate Ragazze, Marina Spada's film on poet Antonia Pozzi, the scandalously "normal" love stories captured by Stefano Consiglio, the larger-than-life Vittorio De Sica in Vittorio D. (by Mario Canale and Annarosa Morri), and the disconcerting state of Italian cinema depicted with happy and erratic freedom by Valerio Ialongo in Di me cosa ne s ai.

Last, but certainly not least, are this year's tributes and parallel activities. Some will be announced in the coming weeks, and some in conjunction with evolving initiatives of Italian cinema, for which Venice Days are the most natural and directly involved presentation space. However, we are pleased to already announce the special tribute to animation artist Signe Baumane (a festival favorite, discovered in Venice and celebrated at Sundance and Berlin), who will bring the entire anthology Teat Beat of Sex, with eight brand new episodes (just 2' each) that will screen before the films of the selection.

Also returning is the special project created and directed by Fabio Ferzetti, 100 + 1. One hundred films and one country, Italy, on the eve of its first event organized with the Province of Rome and with support from Cinecittà Luce. Venice will also be an occasion to present the restored print of Francesco Rosi's The Magliari (1959), made possible through a collaboration with the Bologna Cinematheque.

THE FILMS OF 2009

BARKING WATER
by Sterlin Harjo - USA
International Premiere
The filmmaker's second feature, on the pride and end of the Seminole and Crow Nations, as well as an uncontaminated Oklahoma (literally, the "land of the red people" in the Ponca language). Frankie wants to leave the hospital before dying - to find his daughter and niece and ask their forgiveness. He asks Irene, who was in love with him in the past, for her help. This nostalgic and surprising road movie unfolds among longing, hopes and appeased rancor, amid an ancient landscape that looks on impassively. Produced with support from the Sundance Institute.
Production: Indion Production

CELDA 211
by Daniel Monzón - Spain
World Premiere
Two men at the centre o f prison revolt: the ruthless murderer heading it and the novice prison official who finds himself implicated. A genre prison movie that becomes a vehicle for an auteur exploration, as well as a thriller in which each moment could be the last. Not only for the two main characters, because beyond the jail walls there are loved ones, power games and secret agreements, as the margin for negotiations becomes increasingly narrower. Featuring Carlos Bardem (Che), Luis Tosar (Semana Santa) and Antonio Resines (Pan's Labyrinth).
Production: Vaca Films, Morena Films, Telecinco
World Sales: Films Distribution

DESERT FLOWER
by Sherry Horman - Germany/Austria/UK
World Premiere
The extraordinary Waris Dirie was a nomad girl from the Somali desert who became a highly successful model and UN ambassador for women's rights. Based on her real life, the film offers a colorful fresco of the contradictions of the contempor ary world and an image-obsessed society, in a narrative mix of social drama and sophisticated comedy. This intense portrait of a woman owes much to the luminous onscreen debut of the beautiful Liya Kebede. Today, Dirie is the face of the campaign against the infibulation of and violence towards African women.
Production: Desert Flower Filmproductions
World Sales: The Match Factory

DI ME COSA NE SAI
by Valerio Ialongo - Italy
World Premiere
Why is Italian cinema doing so poorly? After five years of interviews, meetings and exemplary events, this film depicts the tragicomedy of our times, lost memory, the depreciation of culture and artistic solitude. What emerges is an erratic, free account alongside an exploration into private stories. The approach is disenchanted, the tone light, at times comical. The reality, much less so.

Production: Cinecittà Luce, Ameuropa

GORDOS
by Daniel Sánchez-Arévalo - Spain
World Premiere (Second Feature)
The second feature by the director of DarkBlueAlmostBlack tackles a true contemporary evil: obesity. This outrageous and "over-size" comedy centers on a group of overweight people in search of redemption. It is a story of insecurities, phobias, dramas, mistakes, shame, hopes, concessions, love, sex, health and family. The most politically incorrect film on survival. in the "broadest" sense of the word.
Production: Tesela
World Sales: Imagina International Sales

HARRAGAS
by Merzak Allouache - Algeria/France
World Premiere
The "harragas" (a Spanish term of Arabic origin) are those who burn documents (and borders). They are the illegal immigrants of the sea, from the shores of the Maghreb, searching for better lives across the Spanish border. The greatest Algerian director of our times recounts the odyssey of a grou p of young friends who tempt fate - from Algeria to Gibraltar - and the suicide of one of them. Allouache's acclaimed films include The Other World, Chouchou and the recent Tamanrasset.
Production: Libris Films
World Sales: Doc&Film International

HONEYMOONS
by Goran Paskaljevic - Albania/Serbia
World Premiere
The first Albanian/Serbian co-production is a film on the "Kosovo curse." It looks at two, young newlywed couples in search of freedom, and the paradox of seemingly wide-open borders that are actually lethal traps, be they in Hungary or Bari. The director of Cabaret Balkan offers an ensemble portrait of our times involving his country, atavistic Balkan rivalries, Italy and Europe. The most personal, moving and fierce work of a great master who believes in human beings over passports.
Production: Nova Film

JE SUIS HEUREUX QUE MA MERE SOIT VIVANTE
by Claude and Nathan Miller - France
World Premiere (Debut Film)
"Our identities are clothes the shape of which were designed by our childhood," says Claude Miller, in an exploration on what happens when this childhood is denied. Thomas was abandoned by his birth mother at the age of four. Intolerant of his adoptive family, the boy searches for his mother for years. When he finds her, he begins a parallel life at her side, without anticipating the fatal epilogue. The film also unveils a young talent: Vincent Rottiers. Based on a true story narrated by Emmanuel Carrère.
Production: F Comme Films, Orly Films, France 3 Cinéma
World Sales: Coach 14

THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK
by Alex van Warmerdam - The Netherlands
International Premiere
Scenes of a class struggle along the banks of the Netherlands coast or a long wait for a new Exterminating Angel? With his own personal and unmistakable surrealism, the director of highly critically acclaimed films such as Abel, The Dress and Waiter continues his exploration of cinematic language and social criticism in this bitter and biting new comedy. In her mansion behind the dunes, the tyrannical Emma Blank awaits death, driving her exasperated servants and relatives to a paradoxical mutiny. Who will win in this theatre of cruelty: the oppressor or those trying to overturn the rules of the game?
Production: Graniet Film
World Sales: Fortissimo Films

QU'UN SEUL TIENNE, LES AUTRES SUIVRONT
by Léa Fehner - France
World Premiere (Debut Film)
In the visiting room of a French prison, the lives of a group of men and women brush up against one another to ultimately influence mutual destinies. A mother of a murdered Algerian, the random double of a dangerous offender, the girlfriend of a young rebel, a doctor who feigns cynicism and a killer's sister have one hour to make amends with life, in the thousand faces of modern society's malaise. The cast includes Reda Kateb, a revelation in A Prophet.
Production and World Sales: Rezo Films

Special Event

LA HORDE
by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher - France
World Premiere (Debut Film)
A police squad sets out to settle the score with a gang of fools. But the dilapidated building in which the thugs are holed up is also the favorite destination of a savage horde of violent zombies. Under a high moon, a battle begins across the city. By dawn, only the best will survive. The highly anticipated debut of two young filmmakers, La Horde regains to horror genre its unsettling spirit of rebellion, sarcasm, political incorrectness and unabashed film references. and this time speaks "European."
Production: Capture the Flag
World Sales: Films Distribution

Films on Reality: Special Screening

L'AMORE E BASTA
by Stefano Consiglio - Italy
World Premiere
What does it mean to have a normal, happily scandalous love knowing that it is "different" only in terms of social customs? The loving relationships that Stefano Consiglio sought out throughout Europe speak with the simplicity of children, the colorful animation of Ursula Ferrara and the voice of Luca Zingaretti, of experiences we would all like to have.
Production: BiBi Film, Lucky Red
World Sales: Doc&Film International

Films on Reality: Special Screening

POESIA CHE MI GUARDI
by Marina Spada - Italy
World Premiere
The subtle and modern gaze of the director of As the Shadow here rests upon the youth of poet-photographer Antonia Pozzi, who committed suicide on December 3, 1938, before the Italian Racial Laws were promulgated, in a tense and icy Milan. Her forgotten memory is revived thanks to today's street poets who believe in the power of a verse, of a though t capable of saving the world.
Production: Miro Film

Films on Reality: Special Screening

RAGAZZE. LA VITA TREMA
by Paola Sangiovanni - Italy
World Premiere (Debut Film)
Their names are Alessandra, Liliana, Marina and Maria Paola. They were teenagers in the 1960s, young adults in the following decade when women's lib began. Their public and private lives - from the stage to free radio stations, from feminist collectives to street demonstrations - are intertwined with Italian history and the ideas of utopia of that that time. More than just a black and white memory.
Production: Metafilm

Special Event 100+1

VITTORIO D.
by Mario Canale and Annarosa Morri - Italy
World Premiere
Seventy years after his first film (Red Roses, 1939) and 35 after his death, Vittorio De Sica remains a celebrated, forgotten and perhaps unknown giant of Italian cinema. His irre pressible humanity, versatility as an actor and intransigence as a filmmaker remain in the shadows. This original and different portrait is created through stories from De Sica's children - Emy, Christian and Manuel - alongside artists such as Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, John Landis, Ken Loach and Mario Monicelli.
Production: Surf Film, La7
World Sales: Surf Films

Tribute to Signe Baumane

TEAT BEAT OF SEX
Latvia/Italy
World Premiere
The series Teat Beat of Sex (produced in Europe), of 15 withering shorts on love and sex, will be presented in its entirety at Venice. A set of eight unseen episodes, world premieres, will screen before films of the Official Selection. One of the most celebrated artists of international animation, in recent years she participated in competition at Sundance and the Berlinale. An illustrator of children's books and theatre animator and regular collaborator of Bill Plympton, Baumane 's objects and installations have been exhibited in art galleries. She has won numerous prizes at top festivals for her six films and countless shorts.
Production: Pierre Poire Productions

In collaboration with International Critics' Week (SIC)
VIDEOCRACY
by Erik Gandini - Sweden
World Premiere
In the beginning, there was free TV, then came the orgy of antennas, the rapture of choice, the slow but inexorable mutation of a people's genetic code. Television's autocracy is not particular only to Italy, but only in this country has the "magic box" generated such exemplary protagonists, such an analogous plethora of absurd specimens. To keep this discussion alive, together with the SIC we will present the "other point of view," of Italian/Swedish director Erik Gandini (Sacrificio, Gitmo).
Production: Atmo AB, Zentropa Entertainment7
World Sales: Trust Nordisk

The final films of th e selection and the complete program of events and activities at the Filmmakers Villa will be announced shortly.

Venice Critic's Week unveils line-up (Variety)

"Metropia", de Tarik Saleh

ROME — The Venice Film Festival's Critics' Week has unveiled its lineup featuring 10 world preems with a largely Eurocentric focus, complemented by two topical Iranian works, and one from South Korea.

Opening the 24th edition of the independently run Lido section dedicated to first works will be Swedish sci-fi animation pic "Metropia" by tyro helmer Tarik Saleh, a former graffiti artist and founder of Stockholm's ultra-indie Atmo Media Network shingle.

Set in an imaginary post-Orwellian 2024, menaced by "a dangerous shampoo seeping into people's thoughts," as section topper Francesco Di Pace put it, the eclectic English-language toon, bowing out-of-competition, is voiced by Vincent Gallo, Juliette Lewis, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgard.

Sweden, which is making a strong showing, will also be repped in the Lido crix selection by another Atmo production, Erik Gandini's hot-button docu "Videocracy" on Silvio Berlusconi's launch of trashy TV in Italy and its deeply degrading effect on the country's moral and political fabric.

"Videocracy" is preeming in Venice as a special event in tandem with the Lido's other independent section, the Venice Days, prior to also unspooling in Toronto.

The seven first works in the Lido crix week competish are: Seoul-set "Cafe Noir" by South Korean critic-turned-helmer Chung Sung-il; "A Rational Solution" by Sweden's Jorgen Bergmark, who collaborated with Bent Hamer on "Kitchen Stories"; Gaul's "Domaine" by Patric Chiha about a teenage boy who becomes entangled with his aunt, played by Beatrice Dalle; Italy's "Good Morning Aman," about multi-ethnic Rome, by Italy's Claudio Noce; Gogol-inspired "Kakraki" from Russia's Ilya Demichev; Ireland-set sibling drama "Foxes" from Czech helmer Mira Fornay; and "Tehran," a potentially controversial docu by Nader T. Homayoun about that city's underbelly depicting such scourges as a trade in newborn babies and prostitutes in parks.

The closer, out of competition, will be "Chaleh" by Ali Karim, a drama also hailing from Iran, about an old man scamming for a living on the outskirts of an earthquake-stricken city. Pic was praised by Di Pace as transcending the conventions of most recent Iranian cinema.

Di Pace ascribed the absence of Yank pics in part to what he called "a cookie-cutter tendency in young American cinema," but also to the fact that Toronto, whose dates dovetail with Venice, is demanding world preem exclusivity.

Venice Critics' Week pics will not be judged by a jury, just by votes cast by festgoers. The top prize is worth Euros 5,000 ($7,100), provided by Venice's Veneto region.

All Critics' Week entries will compete alongside titles in the Official Selection for the fest's Golden Lion of the Future, worth $100,000.

The Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 2- Sept. 12. The Lido's official lineup will be announced July 30.

Naming names at Venice (Variety)

ROME -- The upcoming Venice Film Festival is shaping up as a launching pad for plenty of U.S. kudos hopefuls, a strong European lineup and new works from big-name helmers including Steven Soderbergh, Michael Moore, Joe Dante, Werner Herzog and Todd Solondz, alongside Claire Denis, Jacques Rivette and Giuseppe Tornatore.

With one week to go before the July 30 announcement, artistic director Marco Mueller and his selection committee seem to have lined up a slew of pics with media-friendly stars, which should pacify the international press corps, which griped last year that the Lido was thin on star power.

Soderbergh's "The Informant!" -- toplining Matt Damon as an agri-business price fixer -- is likely to world preem at the event, which runs Sept. 2-12. Warner Bros. would then give the comedy-thriller a North American sendoff in Toronto.

Moore's docu "Capitalism: A Love Story," about the global economic meltdown, is tipped to launch in Venice ahead of its Stateside bow via Overture Films on Oct. 2 -- one year and a day after the U.S. Senate voted to bail out Wall Street.

Other English-lingo pics said to be ensconced in Lido berths include Australian director John Hillcoat's "The Road," an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron; Dante's 3-D horror pic "The Hole"; and Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant" redo "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," with Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.

Horrormeister George Romero may make the trek with "Zombieland" (aka "Survival of the Dead"), the sixth entry in his Living Dead series, which is also unspooling in Toronto (foto).

Former Gucci creative director Tom Ford is expected to bow his helming debut "A Single Man," centered on an L.A.-based British college professor who loses his partner of 16 years. Pic stars Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.

Solondz looks to be Lido-bound with his long-in-gestation "Life During Wartime," a sequel of sorts to 1998's "Happiness," with Charlotte Rampling and Ciaran Hinds among thesps in the ensemble cast.

Wes Anderson's stop-motion-animated film "Fantastic Mr. Fox," a Roald Dahl adaptation, has also been submitted to the Lido, but it's not certain whether it will bow there. Pic's voice cast includes George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. Also possible: Lido regulars Ethan and Joel Coen may bring their black comedy "A Serious Man."

Mike Judge ("Office Space") is likely to unveil his latest workplace comedy, "Extract," starring Jason Bateman and Mila Kunis.

Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat's first feature film, "Women Without Men," developed at the Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab, is also said to be headed for the fest.

The rich roster of Euro goods will likely include the usual copious contingents from France and Italy.

Already announced as the opening-night pic is "Baaria," Tornatore's big-budget Sicilian epic that marks the festival's first Italo opener in two decades. The list of local entries is also believed to include Tilda Swinton starrer "Io sono l'amore" (I Am Love), by Luca Guadagnino; Michele Placido's 1968-themed "Il grande sogno" (The Big Dream); and Naples-set drama "Lo spazio bianco" (The White Space), from Francesca Comencini. Also set in Naples and tipped for a Venice berth is Abel Ferrara's docudrama "Napoli, Napoli, Napoli," which explores the underbelly of this highly cinematic Southern Italian city.

Among French fare that looks likely for a Venice bow are Rivette's Gallic-Italo co-production "36 vues du Pic Saint Loup," with Italian actor Sergio Castellitto playing alongside Jane Birkin; Denis' Cameroon-set "White Material," starring Isabelle Huppert and Christophe Lambert; and Patrice Chereau's love triangle drama "Persecution," with Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Spain looks to be repped at Venice with Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza's "REC 2," their follow-up to cult chiller "REC"; Austria may make a Lido showing with "Lourdes," from Viennese helmer Jessica Hausner, also in Toronto; Switzerland may make an appearance with "Pepperminta," a first feature film by Swiss visual artist Pipilotti Rist.

Given Mueller's known bent for Asian cinema, the Far East is expected to be a presence at the Lido this year; but after an Asia-heavy Cannes, available hot titles may be somewhat scarce. One buzz pic in Mueller's mix, if completed, is Chinese historical actioner "The Warrior and the Wolf," helmed by Tian Zhuangzhuang and toplining Maggie Q. It's co-produced by Focus Features and Hong Kong-based Edko Films.

Rivette in pole position for competition selection (Cineuropa)

One month before Marco Muller unveils the competition titles of the 66th Venice Film Festival (September 2-12), Jacques Rivette’s French/Italian co-production 36 Vues du Pic Saint-Loup (“36 Views from the Pic Saint-Loup”, see news) is tipped to vie for the Golden Lion, according to Cineuropa’s sources in Paris.

This would mark the first Venetian selection for the director (81), who has thrice participated in competition at Cannes – including in 1991, when he won the Grand Jury Prize for La Belle Noiseuse – and twice at Berlin (most recently, in 2007 with Don’t Touch the Axe [trailer]).

Starring Jane Birkin, Sergio Castellitto and Julie-Marie Parmentier, 36 Vues du Pic Saint-Loup was produced by Pierre Grise Productions for €3.53m. This included co-production support from France 2 Cinéma and Italy’s Cinemaundici, an advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC), a pre-sale from Canal + and a grant from the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

International sales are being handled by Les Films du Losange, who will release the title in France on September 9.

Other likely French contenders for a competition slot at Venice include Patrice Chéreau’s Persécution (see news), featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Romain Duris and Jean-Hugues Anglade. Co-produced by Azor Films and Move Movie with backing from Arte France Cinéma, Canal + and an advance on receipts from the CNC, the film is sold internationally by MK2. If selected, Chéreau would return to the Venetian competition in which he participated in 2005 with Gabrielle [trailer].

According to rumours in Paris, Christophe Honoré’s Non Ma Fille, Tu N'iras Pas Danser (“No, My Daughter, You Won’t Go Dancing”, see news) also has a good chance of selection. Thus, the director could discover the Lido after appearing on the Croisette (Un Certain Regard in 2002, Directors’ Fortnight in 2006 and in competition with Love Songs [trailer] in 2007) and at San Sebastian last year (The Beautiful Person [trailer]).

Produced by Why Not Productions for €3.86m, Non Ma Fille… was co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and pre-bought by Canal +. It will be launched domestically on September 2 by Le Pacte, who are also managing international sales.

Los premios del Festival de Venecia

Biennale Cinema 65th Venice Film Festival Official Venezia 65 Awards

Venice, 6th September 2008

The Venezia 65 Jury, chaired by Wim Wenders and comprised of Juriy Arabov, Valeria Golino, Douglas Gordon, Lucrecia Martel, John Landis, and Johnnie To, having viewed all twenty-one films in competition, has decided as follows:

GOLDEN LION for Best Film:

The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky (USA) FOTO

SILVER LION for Best Director to:

Aleksey German Jr. for Bumažnyj Soldat (Paper Soldier) (Russia)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to:

Teza by Haile Gerima (Ethiopia, Germany, France)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor:

Silvio Orlando for Il papà di Giovanna by Pupi Avati (Italy)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress:

Dominique Blanc for L’autre by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic (France)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best Young Actor or Actress:

Jennifer Lawrence for The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriaga (USA)

OSELLA for Best Cinematography to:

Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov for Bumažnyj Soldat (Paper Soldier) by Aleksey German Jr. (Russia)

OSELLA for Best Screenplay to:

Haile Gerima for Teza by Haile Gerima (Ethiopia, Germany, France)

SPECIAL LION for Overall Work to:

Werner Schroeter

The Jury decided to award a Special Lion for his uncompromising and relentlessly innovative work over a period of 40 years to Werner Schroeter.

“LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM

The “Luigi De Laurentiis” Award for a Debut Film Jury at the 65th Venice Film Festival, comprised of Abdellatif Kechiche (President), Alice Braga, Gregory Jacobs, Donald Ranvaud, and Heidrun Schleef, has unanimously decided to award the

“LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to:

Pranzo Di Ferragosto by Gianni Di Gregorio (SIC - International Critics’ Week, Italy)

Aurelio De Laurentiis and Filmauro award a cash prize, of 100,000 USD, to the winning first film (50,000 to the director, 50,000 to the producer). To the director, an additional film voucher for 40,000 Euro will also be awarded, offered by Kodak.

FIPRESCI Award

Best Film Venezia 65: Gabbla (Inland) by Tariq Teguia

Best Film Horizons and International Critics’ Week: Goodbye Solo by Ramin Bahrani

SIGNIS Award

The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow

special mention to Vegas: Based on a True Story by Amir Naderi

special mention to Teza by Haile Gerima

International Critics’ Week Award

L’Apprenti by Samuel Collardey

Francesco Pasinetti (SNGCI) Award

Best Film: Pranzo di Ferragosto by Gianni Di Gregorio

Special mention to Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo

Best Male Actor: Silvio Orlando for Il papà di Giovanna

Best Female Actor: Isabella Ferrari for Un giorno perfetto

Isvema Award for an debut or second feature film

Pranzo di Ferragosto by Gianni Di Gregorio

Label Europa Cinemas Award – Giornate degli Autori 2008

Machan by Uberto Pasolini

Doc/it Award – Sicilia Film Commission

Below Sea Level by Gianfranco Rosi

special mention to L’Apprenti by Samuel Collardey

Leoncino d'oro Award 2008 (Agiscuola)

Il papà di Giovanna by Pupi Avati

Cinema for UNICEF commendation: Teza by Haile Gerima

Art Cinema Award

Dikoe Pole (Wild Field) by Mikhail Kalatozishvili

La Navicella – Venezia Cinema Award

The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow

C.I.C.T. UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award

BirdWatchers – La terra degli uomini rossi by Marco Bechis

Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Special Awards

Stella by Sylvie Verheyde

Biografilm Lancia Award - fiction

Rachel Getting Married by Jonathan Demme

Biografilm Lancia Award - documentary

Below Sea Level by Gianfranco Rosi

Nazareno Taddei Award

Il papà di Giovanna by Pupi Avati

Don Gnocchi Award

Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo

special mention to Ezio Greggio for Il papà di Giovanna

Future Film Festival Digital Award

The Sky Crawlers by Mamoru Oshii

special mention to Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) by Hayao Miyazaki

Brian Award

Khastegi

Queer Lion Award

Un altro pianeta by Stefano Tummolini

Lanterna Magica Award (Cgs)

Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo

CinemAvvenire

Best Film in Competition: Vegas: Based on a True Story by Amir Naderi

“The circle is not round. Cinema for peace and the richness of diversity” Award: Teza by Haile Gerima

FEDIC Award

Machan by Uberto Pasolini

Bastone Bianco Award (Filmcritica)

Akires to kame (Achilles and the Tortoise) by Takeshi Kitano

Human Rights Film Network Award

The Hurt Locker by Kahryn Bigelow

Arca Cinemagiovani Award

Best Film Venezia 65: The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow

Best Italian Film: Pranzo di Ferragosto by Gianni Di Gregorio

“Altre Visioni” Award: Sell Out! by Yeo Joon Han

EIUC Human Rights Film Award

Kabuli Kid by Akram Barmak

Lina Mangiacapre Award

Stella by Sylvie Verheyde

Air For Film Fest Award

Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo

Open Award 2008

The Butcher’s Shop by Philip Haas

“Poveri ma belli” Award

Puccini e la fanciulla by Paolo Benvenuti

Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award

for a film which shows a firm connection with the arts

Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) by Hayao Miyazaki