International competition of Short Films at the 65th Venice Film Festival to Open on Sept. 1
65th Venice International Film Festival 2008
Eve, the directorial debut by the young American actress (Queen Padmé Amidala in Star Wars, and star of films including Léon, Closer, V for Vendetta, The Darjeeling Limited), will open - out of competition - the first of three programmes of the line-up curated by Stefano Martina, in cooperation with Giuliana La Volpe. Featuring two icons of American cinema in the shape of Lauren Bacall and Ben Gazzara, who have lent their gloriously-lined features and talent to a civilised comedy on the third age fuelled by amorous dalliances, Portman’s film is, however, just the first of many American productions selected this year. Among these is The Butcher’s Shop, a melange of cinema and video-art and a refined rereading of a famous canvas by the 14th century painter Annibale Carracci, directed by the veteran Philip Haas (Up at the Villa, Angels and Insects), the Kammerspiel co-directed by the Italians Giacomo Gatti and Francesco Carrozzini 1937, entirely set in the notorious Chelsea Hotel in New York, and - as the closing film, also out of competition - Jarred by Martin Gaiss.
For the very first time, Corto Cortissimo will also see a Vietnamese short in competition: Khi toi 20 (When I Am 20) by Phan Dang Di, a melancholy tale of young love with more than a touch of the Nouvelle Vague about it. This film, along with Wode (Mine) by the Chinese director Hui Liu, an extremely measured neorealistic drama which strongly recalls Bicycle Thieves, completes the Asian front in a selection that, more than ever, leans heavily towards European films, at least in terms of quantity. An exception comes in the form of the Mexican Tierra y Pan, a remarkable effort by Carlos Armella, who has previously worked with Alejandro González Iñarritu.
Among the nations from the Old Continent, those most represented this year are France, the U.K. and Belgium, with two films each. France will be fielding both the meticulous Corpus/Corpus by Christophe Loizillon (another auteur making his return to shorts after two feature films) and Dix, an original 3D representation of the deepest and darkest phobias of an individual with obsessive-compulsive disorder, by the art collective BIF; hailing from the U.K. will be both the short film I’m In Away From Here by Catriona MacInnes, which plunges into the world of mental disability, and the poignant pseudo-sci-fi fable The Stars Don’t Twinkle In Outer Space by Peter Thwaites; while flying the flag for Belgium will be the icy satire on power and family ties De Onbaatzuchtigen (The Altruists) by the Flemish Koen Dejaegher, as well as the Walloon Noces de Cendres, a moving story of children and death, directed by Pierre Eden Simon.
Your Rating
(Be the first one to rate)
Loading ...
Recommended...
Venice 2008-Out of competition: Two Golden Lions, two masters and lots of music IFFI, Goa to Promote Short Films Wim Wenders to preside over Venice Jury Short Filmmaking Competition Wim Wenders’ Venice Jury Annouced
Loading ...
How can I view one of the short films to be shown at the Venice Film Festival?