News

French comedy added to sidebar’s competition.

Venice Days (Sept 2-12) has rounded out its programme with Julie Delpy’s Lolo, bringing the number of titles in competition at the independently run section of the Venice Film Festival to 11.

The world premiere of the film, which will go on to screen at Toronto, has been secured by Venice Days following an agreement with international distributor Wild Bunch.

Delpy, star of Richard Linklater’s Before… trilogy, has written and directed Lolo and will co-star alongside Dany Boon, Vincent Lacoste and Karin Viard.

The satirical comedy centres on fortysomething workaholic Violette (Delpy), who finds romance while on a spa vacation. But once back home, the pair have to deal with Lolo, Violette’s brainy, tyrannical son, who has no intention of relinquishing his own control over the family, and the emotions of his mother.

Delpy’s previous features as director include 2 Days in New York (2012), Skylab (2011), The Countess (2009) and...

Luis Tosar thriller to open strand; Laurent Cantet to chair jury; programme includes Agnès Varda, Alice Rohrwacher shorts.Scroll down for full line-up

Dani de la Torre’s debut thriller Retribution, starring Luis Tosar, will open the 2015 Venice Days strand, which announced its line-up today.

The Venice Film Festival’s (September 2 - 12) independently run section will host 21 titles including 18 world premieres in its official selection.

The ten-title competition includes Matias Bize’s The Memory of Water, a drama about a young couple trying to rekindle their relationship after the death of their 4-year-old son, Vincenzo Marra’s fourth feature La Prima Luce, which stars Riccardo Scamarcio as an Italian lawyer tracking down his young son in Chile after an acrimonious divorce; Ascanio Celestini’s drama Long Live The Bride, starring Alba Rohrwacher, and Australian director Michael Rowe’s love drama Early Winter, featuring Suzanne Clement.

Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto, Sam Neill and Paul Schneider star in [link...

A total of 17 co-productions received a share of $5.8m

The Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund is to plough €4.54m ($5.8m) into 16 feature films and one documentary project.

Among the projects selected at the meeting, held from Oct 13-16 in Strasbourg, was Thomas Vinterberg’s The Commune (Kollektivet).

The upcoming film from the Danish director of Oscar-nominated The Hunt was recently shopped at Toronto by TrustNordisk

The story, scriped by Tobias Lindholm (The Hunt, A Hijacking), focuses on the clash between personal desires versus the solidarity and tolerance in a commune in the mid 1970s.

Cast has yet to be announced and shooting is expected to start later this year,

Eurimages will also support the new film from Corneliu Porumboiu, director of When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism.

His latest project, The Treasure (Comoara), began shooting on 15 October and follows two men as they face a series of misadventures in their quest to find a treasure...

La pecora nera or if you prefer, The Black Sheep is the feature debut from Ascanio Celestini, which is In Competition for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

Yes, we said it’s a comedy, but they also describe it as an “inventive, funny and tragic” movie. Check out the La pecora nera synopsis and see why…

“The psychiatric hospital is an apartment block of saints. The poor crazy inmates tucked into their Chinese sheets – industrially manufactured shrouds – are saints, the nun lit up like an ex-voto by her bedside lamp is a saint.

And the doctor is the saintliest of all, he is the head of the saints, he is Jesus Christ.”

This is how Nicola describes his 35 years in the “electric asylum” and in his messed-up head reality and fantasy merge, producing unexpected illuminations.

Nicola was born in the 1960s, “the fabulous sixties”, and...

Updated through 9/4.

"That the infirm of mind make for troublesome film subjects is demonstrated once again in Ascanio Celestini's striking but over self-conscious feature debut, The Black Sheep, one of three Italian films in this year's Venice competition." Lee Marshall for Screen: "Told by an unreliable asylum-inmate narrator who is too unreliable from the start to really engage our sympathies, this blackly comic denunciation of the casual way in which people can be committed to mental institutions has the audience caught in a cleft stick between compassion for the quirky social outcasts the film depicts and depression at the sheer sadness of it all."...

Venice -- Politics reared its head on the opening days of the Venice Film Festival, with a buzz surrounding Thursday's in-competition screening of Julian Schabel's "Miral," which examines the Palestinian conflict through the eyes of a girl raised in an orphanage, and the news that Iranian director Jafar Panahi was denied the right to exit his country for the screening of his short film "The Accordion."

Earlier, on Wednesday, Italian politicals played a cameo role when the Secretary to the Italian government's Council of Ministers, Gianni Letta, was reportedly booed loudly by the crowd as he entered the opening ceremony of the 67th edition of the festival. Letta is a key figure in the ruling government coalition in Italy currently embroiled in controversy.

Letta later presented a special medal to Italian composer Armando Trovajoli, who turned 93 Thursday. That move was greeted with applause.

Panahi, who was jailed in Iran earlier...

Above: Antony Cordier’s Happy Few.

David has been doing an excellent job rounding up information on the films that will premiere at the 67th Venice Film Festival (see here,here, here, and here). Here is a more personal preview of some of the titles that will be showcased during the festival that’ll open September 1 with Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

The fine line between the Competition and Out of Competition selections seems especially blurred this year, with a host of U.S. and Italian titles making a strong showing in both sections, and with more than a few titles considered possibilities for either before the line-up was announced.

In one instance, however, the line between Competition and Out of Competition became painfully clear. A lot was made in the Italian press of the surprise inclusion, in competition, of Ascanio Celestini's La pecora nera (“Black Sheep”), a fiction-documentary...

Are you guys ready for the oldest film festival in the world? Yeah, sure you are! Who’s crazy enough to miss all that glamour, great movies, and well-known faces? Guess nobody!

This year’s Venice Film Festival runs from September 1- 11th and some great titles will compete for Leone d’Oro, or if you prefer Golden Lion, indeed!

Just in case you don’t trust us, check out a list of all the films playing in competition:

In Competition

Black Swan, Opening Night Film (dir. Darren Aronofsky – U.S.) Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

La Pecora Nera, (dir. Ascanio Celestini – Italy) Ascanio Celestini, Giorgio Tirabassi, Maya Sansa

Somewhere, (dir. Sofia Coppola – U.S.) Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Benicio Del Toro, Michelle Monaghan, Laura Chiatti, Simona Ventura

Happy Few, (dir. Antony Cordier – France) Marina Fois, Elodie Bouchez, Roschdy Zem, Nicolas Duvauchelle

The Solitude of Prime Numbers,...

The full lineup for this year's Venice film festival has been announced – but there's a no show for the new Terrence Malick

The full programme for this year's Venice film festival has been announced and, as predicted, many film-makers whose films weren't quite ready for Cannes will debut on the Lido. Somewhere, a Hollywood-set drama from Sofia Coppola, is amongst the premieres, likewise Vincent Gallo's Brown Bunny sequel, Promises Written in Water, apparently a black-and-white tale of a girl with a terminal illness.

Julian Schnabel's Miral, which follows Hind Husseini's efforts to set up an orphanage in Jerusalem after the 1948 partition of Palestine, also finds a home. However, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, which many had predicted would screen at the festival, is not on the list; nor that for the Toronto film festival, which directly follows Venice.

Other hotly tipped titles include Meek's Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt...

Competition: Opening Film: Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky (U.S.) La pecora nera, Ascanio Celestini (Italy)Somewhere, Sofia Coppola (U.S.)Happy Few, Antony Cordier (France)The Solitude of Prime Numbers, Saverio Costanzo (Italy-Germany-France)Silent Souls, Aleksei Fedorchenko (Russia)Promises Written in Water, Vincent Gallo (U.S.)Road to Nowhere, Monte Hellman (U.S.)A Sad Trumpet Ballad, Alex de la Iglesia (Spain-France)Black Venus, Abdellatif Kechiche (France)Post Mortem, Pablo Larrain (Chile-Mexico-Germany)Barney's Version, Richard J. Lewis (Canada-Italy)We Believed, Mario Martone (Italy-France)La passione, Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)13 Assassins, Takashi Miike (Japan)Potiche, Francois Ozon (France)Meek's Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt (U.S.)Miral, Julian Schnabel (U.S.-France-Italy-Israel)Norwegian Wood, Tran Anh Hung (Japan)Attenberg, Athina Rachel Tsangari (Greece)Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame, ...

And the film I'm most looking forward to seeing (like I'm going to be there) is Vincent Gallo's Promises Written in Water. Someone send me a screener, asap! What else?

Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky.

Somewhere by Sofia Coppola.

13 Assassins by Takashi Miike.

Full list after the break.

In Competition

"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky, U.S. (Opening Film)

"La Pecora Nera," Ascanio Celestini, Italy

"Somewhere," Sofia Coppola, U.S.

"Happy Few," Antony Cordier, France

"The Solitude of Prime Numbers," Saverio Costanzo, Italy, Germany, France

"Silent Souls," Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia

"Promises Written in Water," Vincent Gallo, U.S.

"Road To Nowhere," Monte Hellman, U.S.

"Balada Triste de Trompeta," Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, France

"Venus Noir," Abdellatif Kechiche, France

"Post Mortem," Pablo Larrain, Chile, Mexico, Germany

"Barney's Version," Richard J. Lewis, Canada, Italy

"We Believed," Mario Martone, Italy, France

"La Passione," Carlo Mazzacurati, Italy

"13 Assassins," Takashi Miike, Japan, U.

Yesterday the official line-up for Toronto Film Festival was unveiled and, today Venice Film Festival have revealed the twenty-two films that will be vying for the Golden Lion award at this year’s 67th ceremony. The festival, which will run from September 1 – 11, will open with Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller, Black Swan, and close with Julie Taymor adaptation of Shakespeare’s acclaimed play, The Tempest.

Competing for the Golden Lion this year are:

Somewhere, directed by Sofia Coppola Meek’s Cutoff, directed by Kelly Reichardt Three, directed by Tom Tykwer 13 Assassins, directed by Takashi Miike Happy Few, directed by Antony Cordier Barney’s Version, directed by Richard J. Lewis Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky Promises Written in Water, directed by Vincent Gallo Black Venus, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche Noi Credevamo, directed by Mario Martone La Pecora Nera, directed by Ascanio Celestini Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame,...

The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of... festival season. Two days ago Toronto announced a big chunk of its line-up, and now the Venice Film Festival has unveiled its own. Joining Darren Aronofsky ballerina drama "Black Swan," announced earlier as the opening night film, are Sofia Coppola's Hollywood saga "Somewhere" (trailer); Takashi Miike's samurai tale "13 Assassins" (trailer); "Meek's Cutoff," Kelly Reichardt's new film, once again starring Michelle Williams; Vincent Gallo's long-awaited follow-up to "The Brown Bunny" "Promises Made In Water," reportedly a 16-millimeter black-and-white tale of a girl with a terminal illness; "Road to Nowhere," a thriller from Monte Hellman (!); and "Three," the latest from "Run, Lola, Run"'s Tom Tykwer, about how the two halves of a middle-aged couple fall in love with the same man.

Out of competition, the Affleck brothers will screen Ben's "The Town" and Casey's Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary,...

This morning the Venice Film Festival announced the line-up for their 2010 Festival which will run from September 1-11, and a lot of hot titles and directors are set to be on hand including the already announced festival opener Black Swan from Darren Aronofsky and closer, The Tempest from Julie Taymor. In competition, Aronofsky's feature is joined by titles from Sofia Coppola, Vincent Gallo, Julian Schnabel, Francois Ozon, Abdellatif Kechiche, Takashi Miike and Tom Tykwer. Also, making a midnight Lido appearance will be Robert Rodriguez with his grindhouse thriller Machete. One other notable title is the inclusion of the Casey Affleck-directed Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary I'm Still Here, which will be screening out of competition.

Unfortunately I won't be able to cover this one, but one of these years I would like to find a way to pull a triple play and cover Cannes, Venice and Toronto in the same year...

Earlier this week, the fifty films showing at the Toronto International Film Festival were announced. Today, we have a list of the films showing in-competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Highlights of the Festival include Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, Richard J. Lewis’ Barney’s Version, Julian Schnabel’s Miral, and Tom Tykwer’s Drei. What’s also cool about this list is that we see the runtimes of each of the films. However, it’s not unusual for a film to undergo changes between a festival and its general release.

Hit the jump for a list of all the films playing in-competition and click here for the films playing out-of-competition. This year’s Venice Film Festival runs from September 1 – 11th.

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

USA, 103′

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

Ascanio Celestini – La Pecora Nera

Italia, 93′

Ascanio Celestini,...

New movies from Sofia Coppola, Darren Aronofsky, Vincent Gallo and Julian Schnabel will be slugging it out on the Lido. This year’s Venice Film Festival will take place September 1-11. Twenty two films will be competing for the Golden Lion. Among the name European and Asian directors are Germany’s Tom Tykwer and Japanese directors Takashi Miike and Anh Hung Tran. Terrance Malick’s The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, was expected to be In Competition too. Venice says that one more title will be added to the line-up on September 6. Movies screening Out of Competition include Robert Rodriquez’s Machete, Ben Affleck’s The Town and his brother Casey Affleck’s Joaquin Phoenix documentary I’m Still Here. The Competition 13 Assassins, Takashi Miike, Japan Attenberg, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece Barney’s Version, Richard J. Lewis, Canada/Italy Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky, USA Black Venus,...

The line-up for the 67th Venice Film Festival has finally been announced and we've handily posted the runners and riders below...

The Italian cinematic shindig, which runs from September 1-11 and features the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo Arriaga, Arnaud Desplechin, Danny Elfman, Luca Guadagnino and Gabriele Salvatores on the competition jury, has pulled out all the stops this year with some very exciting flicks.

Top on our list of must-see movies includes Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, Vincent Gallo's Promises Written In Water and Anh Hung Tran's Murasaki adaptation Norwegian Wood.

The films to be shown at the 67th Venice Film Festival are...

Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel.

La Pecora Nera, directed by Ascanio Celestini and starring Ascanio Celestini, Giorgio Tirabassi and Maya Sansa

Somewhere, directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Stephen Dorff,...

Rome -- Sofia Coppola's comedic drama "Somewhere" and "Road to Nowhere," a romantic thriller from veteran director Monte Hellman, were among the highlights of the main competition lineup for the 67th Venice Film Festival, which was released Thursday.

Other in-competition films include Vincent Gallo's "Promises Written in Water"; "Meek's Cutoff," a western from Kelly Reichardt; and Athina Racehel Tsangari's drama "Attenberg."

Artistic director Marco Mueller said that -- notwithstanding the presence of the 78-year-old Hellman -- the competition lineup was the youngest ever in the storied history of the festival, with the average age among the directors of the 22 in-competition films just 47.

"I think this is evidence of a new and dynamic kind of cinema that is being produced," Mueller told a standing-room-only crowd of reporters and industry players at Rome's Excelsior Hotel Thursday.

All told, the festival will include 79 world premieres, including the entire in-competition lineup for...

Knowing Quentin Tarantino's appreciation for films that are "out there": if I had to do some really early predictions here, I'd say that the Gold and Silver Lion front-runners are in Alex De La Iglesia's bizarro fantasy film A Sad Trumpet Ballad, Pablo Larrain's Post Mortem or Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg (a filmmaker we recently profiled in our American New Wave 25 series - she spent more than a decade in Austin's film scene). I'd also add put Abdellatif Kechiche's Black Venus high up on any awards list, especially the Lido - it's a film I've been pegging for Venice since the film went into production. Added to Aronofsky's Black Swan, the U.S is repped by Monte Hellman and his comeback film, Road to Nowhere, Julian Schnabel's Miral, indie female helmers Kelly Reichardt (Meek's Cutoff) and Sofia Coppola (Meek’s Cutoff), and the Coppola-...