Gianni Minà and Frederick Wiseman.
• Cordial participation of Renzo Carbonera, Duccio Chiarini, Lorenzo Garzella and Filippo Macelloni, Carlo Luglio, Elisabetta Pandimiglio, Giorgio Pressburger and Pyoor

 

This film was written, edited and animated by Sylvain Auzou (Deputy director),

Gaia Furrer and Renata Santoro (Film programmers), Giovanni Marco Piemontese with Olimpia De Meo (Communication), Studio Sottocorno (Press office) Rossella Ekta Girolami (Hospitality), Fabio Angelilli (Administration), Simonetta Pacifico and Marianna Poullain (Coordination and Logistics), Roberta Ria (Technical coordination), Mazzino Montinari (Catalogue and Website), Antonella and Maria Teresa Pizzetti (Graphics), with the advice of Elena Manrique, Agnès Catherine Poirier, Tadeusz Sobolewski, Adrian Wootton (Selection committee), Maurizio Di Rienzo, Anna Pomara, Boris Sollazzo (Consultants), Giacomo Durzi, Gianfranco Giagni, Francesco R. Martinotti, Andrea Purgatori (Projects) and Isabella Weber (27 Times Cinema project).

 

THE OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
Our screenings this year include 12 feature films in the Official Selection, three

Special Events, one short opening film and two special collaborations. As every year, the Spazio Aperto-Open Space showcase will feature documentaries and all independent Italian productions. “What is special about this year is our insistence on polarisation in the Official Programme”, says Delegate General Giorgio Gosetti. On the one hand, we have many famous and wonderful directors such as China’s Lou Ye, an exponent of the Sixth Generation and often opposed to his government; Italian Daniele Gaglianone, a prize-winner last year at Locarno; France’s Philippe Lioret with his much awaited latest work after the international success of Welcome; Argentinean director Santiago Amigorena, and Canada’s Jean-Marc Vallée, whose debut film C.R.A.Z.Y. once premiered at the Venice Days. And on the other hand, we have a great many debut films – from Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Palestine, Poland, and Russia – which will confirm the attention Venice accords – in all of its selections – to the regeneration of directors’ creativeness”. “The aim of our effort – which is always autonomous and independent even though it is supported and encouraged by the same Biennale – cannot be limited to films, talents or tales. Our strength lies in being the place of choice where dialogue is deepened. We are therefore proud of the panels set by ANAC and 100 Autori, or the one promoted by SIAE in participation with Anica

and Il Sole 24 Ore on issues of copyright in the Internet era. We support the

initiatives carried out jointly with the Film Commission BLS Südtirol - Alto Adige,

with Micromega and greet the new partnerships with a number of film commissions (Puglia, Piemonte, Marche, Campania, Valle d’Aosta, Sicily) and the Province of Rome and Cinecittà Luce for our special project 100+1 / Cinema e Storia,” adds President Roberto Barzanti. “A separate section is dedicated to Europe,” says Barzanti. He also points out that the Europa Cinemas Label (MEDIA Programme) for the best of European film will be awarded for the eighth year at Venice Days. According to Barzanti, “it is good to see new participation with the Culture Commission of the European Parliament in the LUX Film Prize (finalists whose films will be hosted this year by the Festival). We especially wish to thank President Doris Pack for her commitment. Her project 27 Times Cinema, which involves 27 boys and girls travelling from several EU countries to Venice to discuss cinema, politics, society and gaining an insight into the work of the greatest directors, producers and journalists features at Venice Days again this year,” he says.
The European presence at the 2011 Official Programme is certainly unambiguous, mainly that of the French audiovisual industry. Although 13 nations are represented in all – and even more directors – France almost always plays a significant role where the finalisation of projects is concerned. This is food for thought, as is the common origin of younger filmmakers from the forums of co-production and programmes of activities from major institutions and festivals. On the contrary, constant attention is paid at the Venice Days to the ‘cinema of reality’, with all the forms that the modern documentary can understand.

 

THE THEMES
The origins of memory, the transformation of social fabric, intimate violence, the

chasm between the truth and justice and the clash of civilisations are undoubtedly

recurrent themes in this year’s selection which is given over to female creativity,

with five women directors vying for the spotlight this year, in addition to the many

more female characters and protagonists in the narratives.
An Italy that looks at the world and projects scenarios of broader anxiety about its multicultural roots and comparison lies at the origin of our choices, in particular

in the Open Space section. Cultures dealt with this year include the Chinese by

Andrea Segre, Cuban by Gianni Minà, Patagonian by Garzella and Macelloni, Central European by Giorgio Pressburger and Magris, and native American in the project by Pyoor. There is no doubt that “large society” is the true novelty of Italian cinema, as could be seen from every section at the 68th Venice Film Festival. It is from this viewpoint that we should see the depth of reflection promoted and hosted by the Venice Days this year: the interpretation of the most innovative phenomena on the cultural scene, the return of notions of commitment, a modern conception of public policies and the protection of directors’ rights in what is a vast ocean of digital platforms. A meeting at which writers and producers sit at the same table has been organised through the collaboration between SIAE, Venice Days, Anica and Il Sole 24 Ore.
Also essential for us has been the support of SIAE, an active partner not only in

terms of protecting authors, but also in the search for modern methods to guarantee cultural access to the great heritage of Italian cinema. This is in keeping with the spirit of the manifesto promoted five years ago by film critic Fabio Ferzetti with the project 100+1: Cento film e un paese, l’Italia. The subsequent initiative Cinema e Storia, now in its third year, collected an exceptional consensus. The day dedicated to this project will conclude with the presentation, in participation with the International Critics’ Week, of a documentary film created by Alberto Crespi, Alessandro Boschi and Angelina Chavez Voi siete qui set in the real sites of Rome which created the myth of our best cinema.
Consciousness of its own background on a scene ever more open to mingling lies an initiative jointly developed at BLS, which will feed into a workshop and in the

announcement of a project aimed to finance creativity, which the Venice Days intends to assist and support over the coming months.

 

THE RESOURCES
The theme of investment in art, the difficulty of cultural promotion in general and

festivals in particular, is certainly not fitting for the presentation of an event

which in only a few years has earned a place of respect in view of the world´s oldest festival. Autonomy and independence come at a price when resources are scarce and must be compensated by imagination, solidarity and creativity. We can con not complain of these difficulties, if not only as an occasion for a wider and more general debate.

We nonetheless prefer to highlight and thank all those who make it possible for us,

year after year, to give substance to our exciting challenge. We believe our project

is a model for state investment, through the Direzione Cinema of the Ministry, and

that public intervention goes hand in hand with the support of the private sector,

which we receive from BNL, the bank of Italian cinema par excellence, who has been our main sponsor from the very first year. We also obviously extend our gratitude to the Biennale di Venezia and the Venice Film Festival, without whose collaboration and support Venice Days would never have come about.
Alongside all these partners is a strong pool of institutional supporters and

sponsors who make our projects become reality. SIAE has already been mentioned, but we would like to celebrate the enriched partnership with Sub-Ti, an English-Italian company which provides the subtitling of the films and which this year brings two important additions: an audio guide service for the films in Venice Days and the first web radio of the Festival. We are grateful to Technicolor who produces our trailer, edited by Roberto Di Tanna and which this year receives contributions of archival footage provided by Cinecittà Luce. Then there are the technical partners who work with I-Club helping us to bold our hospitality: we wish to thank the wineries of the Movimento Turismo del Vino-Friuli Venezia Giulia, Dolomia water and products backed by Coop Adriatica and Pasta Garofalo…

A special mention goes to our partners in culture and media. From this year, the LUX Film Prize of the European Parliament will open the list of Cultural Partners, which includes Europa Cinemas (MEDIA project) and Foscari3. We also start a collaboration with the Venetian-based Circuito Off, linked with us in a project of wider involvement of younger audience. Finally, our gratitude to Cinecittà News and Cineuropa.org, our first media partners.

 

A NEW VENUE
For the past seven years, Venice Days has been synonymous with the “Villa”, a meeting place, a place to experience rest amidst the excitement of the Festival. From this year, our image has a new look: opening at the Pagoda (in front of Hotel Des Bains), the CASA DEGLI AUTORI will be an area to work and relax, which will offer more functional dimension. The ground floor will light up the screen under the stars of the Open Space, whilst on the first floor there will be room for press activity and meetings. A special pass will give journalists, professionals, talents and young people access to the Casa degli Autori every day from 10 am until 1.30pm and again from 3pm to 6pm. We are particularly pleased to be working with the company HO10 which manages the Pagoda in the spirit of a revival of the Lido, with the same goal of Biennale. The former “Villa” will remain our institutional headquarters in Venice, but will host no public activities this year. Like all new things, the CASA DEGLI AUTORI too will need its time to become well known. We trust in the curiosity and friendship of professionals to whom we will provide an efficient and regular shuttle service, from the Palazzo del Cinema to the Pagoda. The picture of a beach, as the one surrounding the Lido, provided the inspiration for the logo of this 8th edition. Created by Antonella Pizzetti, the logo depicts a bottle washed ashore. In it is an old piece of film, perhaps containing a message, an idea, an invention. It is up to artists, to creators, to people of culture to ensure that this message will not be lost. We are looking for someone to collect it, to find the images on celluloid, to convey the spirit and ideas in the new digital age, a place where we can realise the dreams of tomorrow.

 

 

ANOTHER SILENCE by Santiago Amigorena
with Marie-Josée Croze, Benz Antoine, Ignacio Rogers
France/Canada/Brazil/Argentina, World Premiere
International sales: Celluloid Dreams
Two shots fired in the middle of the night disrupt the life of Mary. The faceless killers shoot dead her husband and son. As a police officer in the district of Toronto, she chooses the path of revenge, hunting down the killers and masterminds. Like in a contemporary western, her journey takes us to the Argentinean/Bolivian border, to ‘another world’ where her humanity can survive. Another Silence marks the comeback by the director of Quelques jours en septembre and confirms Marie-Josée Croze, the most famous film actress of Québec.

 

KI (My Name is Ki) by Ladzek Dawid (Debut film)
with Roma Gasiorowska, Adam Woronowicz, Kamil Malecki, Krzysztof Ogłoza
Poloand, International Premiere
Production: Skorpion Arte
A young and single mother finds a house, makes ends meet, keeps her former partner at bay and dreams of being an artist. But what she really needs is complicity and trust.

Yet her wild vitality scares away any potential partners and friends. And the risk of being alone is only around the corner. A comedy on loneliness, an unforgettable portrait of a woman and a spectacular debut film, Ki is almost an emblematic subject for this year’s Venice Days.

 

RUGGINE by Daniele Gaglianone
with Filippo Timi, Stefano Accorsi, Valerio Mastandrea, Valeria Solarino
Italy, World Premiere
Production: Fandango-Zaroff Film in collaboration with Rai Cinema
International sales: Fandango Portobello
A fairytale castle on the edge of the city. A monster lying in wait. Remembrance and remorse for three adults. Daniele Gaglianone makes his return to Venice Days after Nemmeno il destino. This film will be remembered for the courage and the poetry he uses to recount tragedy and an ever-repressed theme.

 

PRESUME COUPABLE (Guilty) by Vincent Garenq
with Philippe Torreton, Noémie Lvovsky, Wladimir Yordanoff
France, World Premiere
International sales: Films Distribution
The Outreau trial in 2003 – in which 18 people were accused of child abuse – was one of the most sensational court cases in French history. Here it is told from the point of view of Alain Marécaux, one of the “presumed guilty” who risked even his of life claiming his innocence This is the story of how one man fought for himself against everything and everyone because the pursuit of justice is, above all, the search for the truth.

 

TOUTES NOS ENVIES (All Our Desires) by Philippe Lioret
with Vincent Lindon, Marie Gillain, Amandine Dewasmes, Yannick Rénier
France, World Premiere
International sales: Other Angle Pictures

 

LOVE AND BRUISES by Lou Ye
with Tahar Rahim, Corinne Yam, Jalil Lespert, Lika Minamoto
France, World Premiere
International sales: Wild Bunch
Hua, a Chinese university searcher, arrives in Paris where she falls madly in love with Mathieu, a young worker. Two worlds collide. The film attempts not to recount a heartbreaking love story, rather a story told under the ‘illusion of love’. This is the latest film from the director of Suzhou River and Summer Palace and starring the ‘prophet’ Tahar Rahim.

 

HISTORIAS que so existem quando lembradas by Julia Murat (Debut Film)
with Sônia Guedes, Lisa Fávero, Luis Serra, Ricardo Merkin, Antônio dos Santos
Brazil/Argentina/France, World Premiere
International sales: MPM film
Time stopped many years ago for Madalena and the remote village of Joutuomba where she lives alone with the memory of her dead husband. But when young photographer, Rita, arrives on scene, her life becomes more cheerful. Using the camera to show a lost world, this is a brilliant debut by a daughter of cinematic tradition (her mother, Lucia Murat, was one of the stars of Brazilian cinema and in the fight against dictatorship).

 

TWILIGHT PORTRAIT (Portret v sumerkakh) by Angelina Nikonova (Debut Film)
with Olga Dihovichnaya, Sergey Borisov, Sergei Goludov, Galina Koren
Russia, International Premiere
International sales: Rezo Films
Sexual violence, the subtle game of revenge, feelings of uneasiness and the

 

IO SONO LI by Andrea Segre (Debut Film)
with Zhao Tao, Rade Sherbedgia, Marco Paolini, Roberto Citran, Giuseppe Battiston
Italy/France, World Premiere
Production: Jolefilm and Aeternam Films in collaboration with Rai Cinema
At Chioggia on the edge of a fishing lagoon, so far and so close to the Yellow River, the Venitian dialect is spoken whether you are a Dalmatian “poet” (Bepi) or a Chinese worker (Shun Li). These two characters have feelings, dreams and hopes just like in every corner of the world. Yet their story is unlike any other. The protagonist of Still Life and the ‘poet’ Rade Sherbedgia star in the debut by one of Italian documentary’s finest talents, who also featured last year at the Venice Days with Green Blood.

 

HIVER DERNIER (LAST WINTER) by John Shank (Debut Film)
with Vincent Rottiers, Anais Demoustier, Florence Loiret Caille, Michel Subor, Aurore Clément, Carlo Brandt
Belgium/France, World Premiere
International sales: Le Pacte
Johann is a hero of our time. Condemned by family tradition to life as a cowboy in the Ardennes, the young man discovers his attachment to his roots as he realises he is about to lose everything. In an era of economic globalisation, the charm of the ancestral land is still hard work, pain, hope. A debut film by an American director now living in the heart of Europe, the film confirms the talent of rising star Vincent Rottiers.

 

CAFE DE FLORE by Jean-Marc Vallée
with Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent
Canada/France, World Premiere
International sales: Films Distribution
Beyond time, beyond logic, searching for oneself and the mysterious threads that connect life. Six years after C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée returns with a film on music, emotions and entertainment. This time, he takes us on journey through 1960s Paris, home to Jacqueline, a courageous mother of a Down syndrome child and to present-day Canada, where Antoine, a famous DJ is recovering from a painful divorce.

 

HABIBI (HABIBI RASAK KHARBAN) by Susan Youssef (Debut Film)
with Maisa Abd Elhadi, Kais Nashif, Yosef Abu Wardeh
Palestine/United Arab Emirates/The Netherlands – World Premiere
Production: S.F. Films
In 7th century Arabia lived the great poet of love Qays. Today the walls of Gaza are covered with the words of his poems, transcribed by a young Palestinian who claims his impossible love for the woman he wants to marry. Prisoners in the open air, imprisoned by the logic of social conventions and policies that ignore them, the two boys seek freedom. A debut film entirely shot in the Occupied Territories and funded by donations and prizes.

 

 

DI LÀ DEL VETRO (Beyond the Glass) by Andrea Di Bari (Opening Short Film)
with Isa Danieli, Erri De Luca
Italy, World Premiere
Production: Pastificio Lucio Garofalo s.p.a. - Project: Pesce Rosso Comunicazione e Design
A night-time conversation between a man and his mother and a trip down memory lane through the phantoms of life. Erri De Luca (in his debut as screenwriter and leading actor) opens the door to his house, transporting us into the universe of the past.

 

TESTIMONY (Edut) by Shlomi Elkabetz
with Ronit Elkabetz, Zohar Liba, Ofer Hayun
Israel/France, International Premiere
International sales: Wild Bunch
An Israeli official recounts… a Palestinian woman replies… testifying to a chorus of voices of two people who cannot break free from the fear of the other. This film – says the director – “is a journey into collective memory, a journey whose roots are in everyday life.”

 

CUBA NELL’EPOCA DI OBAMA (Cuba in the age of Obama) by Gianni Minà
Italy, World Premiere
Production: G.M.E. Produzioni srl
From Havana to Guantanamo, over 1,000 kilometers into the heart of the island at a time when one expects to see a change in U.S. policy and in the Revolution itself. A journey into the heart of Cuba, its way of being and living, and its fatal contradictions.

 

CRAZY HORSE by Frederick Wiseman
France/United States, World Premiere
International sales: Celluloid Dreams
Crazy Horse: the myth of the temple of Parisian cabaret, a place of sin and illusion, beauty and the daily grind. The cameras of one of the greatest documentaries of all time visit its stage and dressing rooms, recounting the hopes and defeats of those who live there.

 

In collaboration with SIC – International Critics’ Week
VOI SIETE QUI by Francesco Matera
with Alberto Crespi, Angelina Chavez
Italy, World Premiere
Production: Eskimo
International sales: On the Docks
Alberto is a film journalist in search of real places in Rome where Italian cinema has built its legend and timeliness. Angelina is a photographer who shoots spaces and figures for the project. A symbolic film for the special project "100 +1: One hundred films and one country, Italy”.

 

DER KAISER VON KALIFORNIEN (The Emperor of California)
by Luis Trenker
with Luis Trenker, Viktoria von Ballasko, Werner Kunig
Germany, 1936
An award winner at the 1936 Venice Film Festival, yet long forgotten despite the recent rediscovery of the director, this surprisingly European Western largely shot in the mountains of Tyrol screens at the "Creativity and Territory" conference promoted by the BLS and Venice Days.

 

 

LA PENNA DI HEMINGWAY by Renzo Carbonera
with Sergio Rubini and Christiane Filangieri
Italy, World Premiere

Production: Associazione Maremetraggio in association with Sissy Entertainment, with the collaboration of Esperimentocinema, with the contribution of the Comune di Lignano and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission

 

HIT THE ROAD, NONNA by Duccio Chiarini
with Delia Ubaldi, Alberto Chiarini, Duccio Chiarini, Gioietta Di Prete, Klaus Voit
Italy, World Premiere
Production: Mood Film with the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Cultural

Heritage and Activities and the Region of Tuscany
Tell me a story ... So might begin the journey of Duccio Chiarini who is looking for her grandmother, a strong-willed woman who emigrated to France as a child and was a queen of prêt-à-porter in the ‘60s from Prato to Europe, a distant figure for her nephew who is now  seeking a truth that involves him.

 

MUNDIAL OLVIDADO (The Forgotten World Cup) by Lorenzo Garzella and Filippo Macelloni
Production: Verdeoro – Docksur Producciones in collaboration with Rai Cinema, Rai Trade, Nanof, Cinecittà Luce e il contributo del MiBac
Italy/Argentina, World Premiere
International sales: Rai Trade
In the stories of Osvaldo Soriano lies the first clue, in the testimonies of many (Baggio, Lineker, Havelange and Pastorin) confirmations are possible, in the journey to Patagonia lies the search for evidence. And if it was true that there, in deep America, in 1942, a World Championship of Football was really played?

 

RADICI by Carlo Luglio
With Enzo Gragnaniello
Italy, World Premiere
Production: Figli del Bronx
International sales: Minerva
The Naples of Enzo Gragnaniello, the Naples of post-war and the secret of Sibyl, Neapolitan music and street poets. A portrait of an artist which becomes a fresco by Carlo Luglio, mysterious and full of complicity.

 

DIETRO IL BUIO by Giorgio Pressburger
with Sarah Maestri, Gabriele Geri
Italy, World Premiere
Production: Sine Sole Cinema in collaboration with C.C.C.B. Barcelona
Adapted from a theatrical monologue by Claudio Magris and scripted by his son, Paolo, this film has come about as a result of a long and close relationship between the writer and director. The text reminds the myth of Orpheus, the lesson of Freud, the shadows of Central Europe and the voice of a loved one. The film is part of the exhibition The Trieste Magris, staged in Barcelona in 2011.

 

Italy, World Premiere
Production: Settembrini Film
A kitchen staff, a restaurant suspended between the sea and the sky, a young chef who makes an art of cooking without forgetting its origins and those of the food prepared and processed every day. From the director of Mille giorni di Vito (Venice Days 2009) constructed with the faces and voices of Gennaro Esposito and his aides at the Torre del Saracino comes a unique and surprising account.

 

Italy/USA, World Premiere
Production: Pyoor
As he is about to turn 50, Umberto Marzotto awakens from a dream that describes it thus: “I see colour, I see all the animals with wings, I take a train to the coast and then see houses, skyscrapers, forests and deserts. The Navajo and Apache are far away in the desert.” This serves the point of departure for Pyoor’s collective project, the exploration of a culture and music that mysteriously connects the village of Valdagno (where Umberto was born) and the Arizona of native Americans.

Below, you may downolad the 2011 Poster and the Italian press release