"This time it doesn´t make sense - says Giorgio Gosetti - to only have one red line connecting all the titles of our programme. In fact, we have tried to give a voice to international creativity by matching the experience of masters with the vitality of up-and-coming artists in a spectrum of works which are strong, intense in their themes as well as stylistic choices, almost a kaleidoscope of contemporary reality. What is striking, however, is on the one hand the wish to commit to and to confront the urgency of reality; and on the other hand the search for a form of expression which follows the audience´s taste but which safeguards a passionate, emotional and involving kind of cinema. Our films come to Venice in world premiere but already seem to us destined to a log career in a great variety of markets and capable of making themselves heard and loved by the most diverse of audiences".

Personal destinies and big "political" themes meet on this path: they are an assertion of justice and rights as is told by the two French films of this year (TOUTES NOS ENVIES by Philippe Lioret and PRESUME COUPABLE by Vincent Garenq), the female odyssey through the male brutality of films by Angelina Nikonova (TWILIGHT PORTRAIT) and Santiago Amigorena (ANOTHER SILENCE), the fear of the other and the loneliness of an individual rejected by his own world (HABIBI by Susan Youssef and EDUT by Shlomi Elkabetz); the discovery of diversity and the difficult acceptance of the self in Polish film KI by Ladzek Dawid and in the Brazilian HISTORIAS by Julia Murat; the theme of violence and of community approached in such different ways by two Italian titles, RUGGINE by Daniele Gaglianone and IO SONO LI by Andrea Segre.

Obviously, there is no lack of different approaches and exceptions: one just has to think of the political current events captured by Gianni Mina´ in his CUBA IN THE AGE OF OBAMA or of the double dreamlike/musical journey of the much awaited CAFE DE FLORE by Jean-Marc Vallee with Vanessa Paradis and Vincent Morisset´s INNI with Sigur Ros. On the whole, however, what is striking is the space given to great female characters such as the triple female directing debut of this year´s Venice Days with works by Angelina Nikonova, Susan Youssef, Julia Murat.

Also worth flagging up is the rich expressive world - strongly characterised by the curiosity for different worlds and societies - of the Italian films of "Open Space", which takes us from the kitchen of a Neapolitan restaurant (PIU´ COME UN ARISTA) to the deserts of the Navajo (VALDAGNO, ARIZONA); from the mysteries of the Patagonia (THE LOST WORLD CUP) to the busy Italian capitals of textiles and fashion (HIT THE ROAD, NONNA), to the secret Naples of Enzo Gragnaniello (RADICI) to the Mittel Europa of Magris and Pressburger (DIETRO IL BUIO), all the way to the beaches of the Friuli region of LA PENNA DI HEMINGWAY. A melting pot of languages, feelings, journeys and internal routes which confirm an unprecedented wander lust and curiosity in the new Italian cinema, a characteristic which is common to many of the titles in the programme of this year´s Festival.

Finally, the meetings and reflections which are typical of the Venice Days and which go well beyond the simple selection of new films from all over the world, are dedicated to the audiovisual industry´s system, its immediate problems and scenarios which threaten it or which reassure it in its path of renewal. Therefore, thanks to the collaboration with ANAC and 100Autori, in the next few days Venice will discuss the "Purpose of the State" and Indicinema´s new modus operandi when it comes to production/distribution; the fortunes and crisis of the new model of comedy and originality of the web-series; authors´ rights in the ocean of digital platforms (thanks to the day promoted by SIAE); film commissions and production projects (with BLS and the Marche, Puglia and Valle d´Aosta Regions); original distribution formulas; authors´ civil commitment towards new migrants; a season of effort and hope (the meeting promoted by Micromega). "The modern sense of a large Festival - observes the President of the Days, Roberto Barzanti - can no longer be in the catwalk of the best artists or in hailing the market as being the only power of salvation; we have to give back space to the power of speech, to research, to confrontation, so that cinema is not lived as an island separate from the urgencies of our society. We are therefore committed on this double front and the renewed collaboration with the European institutions, starting with the European Parliament, tells us that we have a different and complementary role to the Festival itself. A fact which has been recognised several times by the same Biennale, which we thank for the essential and loyal collaboration and which has to be our primary commitment, together with the search for talents and new expressions".