News from Italy
Cinema stars in Venice
Vita gazette: The legendary city of Venice opened its doors to the stars of the cinema world due to the 79th Film Festival. The red carpet, which was shelved due to the corona virus, is being laid on the path of art again this year. Among the films that will compete for the prestigious “Golden Lion” award are the highly anticipated productions of many important directors.
As Vita Gazette, made a short star tour on interesting productions for our readers…
2022 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL LINE-UP: IN COMPETITION
Opening Film: White Noise
Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin and Lars Edinger
Synopsis: At once hilarious and horrifying, lyrical, ordinary and apocalyptic, White Noise dramatizes a contemporary American family’s attempts to deal with the mundane conflicts of everyday life while grappling with the universal mysteries of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world.
Il Signore Delle Formiche
Director: Gianni Amelio
Main Cast: Elio Germano, Sara Serraiocco, Luigi Lo Cascio
Synopsis: Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti is jailed in 1968 under a Fascist-era law criminalizing gay activity. The informant is his partner’s father, who forces his son to undergo electroshock conversion therapy.
The Whale
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Main Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins
Synopsis: A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.
L’ImmensitA
Director: Emanuele Crialese
Main Cast: Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani, Vincenzo Amato, Patrizio Francioni
Synopsis: A story of love set in 1970s Rome, revolving around Clara (Cruz) and her children.
Saint Omer
Director: Alice Diop
Main Cast: Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit
Synopsis: A young novelist named Rama witnesses the Saint-Omer Criminal Court trial of Laurence Coly, who is accused to have killed her 15-months-old daughter by abandining her on a beach in the North of France. Rama intends to use these events for her new novel, but what she learns during the trial make her questions her certainties.
Blonde
Director: Andrew Dominik
Main Cast: Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale
Synopsis: Based on the Joyce Carol Oates’s bestselling novel, Blonde is a boldly reimagined fictional portrait of Marilyn Monroe, starring Ana de Armas as the Hollywood legend.
TÀR
Director: Todd Field
Main Cast: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong
Synopsis: Todd Field’s new film stars Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, considered by many one of the greatest living composer and conductors. Tár was the first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra, and the film is set in the international world of classical music.
Love Life
Director: Koji Fukada
Main Cast: Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada
Synopsis: Reminiscent of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s family dramas, Love Life is about a husband and a wife whose peaceful existence is disrupted by a tragic accident that brings their son’s long-lost father – now deaf and homeless – back into their life.
Bardo, Falsa Cronica de Unas Cuantas Verdades
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Main Cast: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Iker Sanchez Solano, Andrés Almeida, Francisco Rubio
Synopsis: BARDO, the story of a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships, the folly of his memories, and the past of his country. The film is a nostalgic comedy set against an epic personal journey.
Athena
Director: Romain Gavras
Main Cast: Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti
Synopsis: Costa-Gavras’ son Romain Gavras’ feature directorial debut is about three siblings who have their lives thrown into chaos when their brother, a young immigrant, is tragically killed by the police. Written and produced by Ladj Ly (of the Cannes-winning Les Misérables), the film takes place in a Parisian banlieue and chronicles a popular uprising.
Bones and All
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Main cast: Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, David Gordon Green, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz
Synopsis: Bones and All was described by Alberto Barbera as “the most profound and increbile non-American film about a lesser known America – the America that lives on the fringes of the American Dream and is, at the same time, a victim of it.” Tackling cannibalism, among other topics, the movie is about a young woman who learns how to survive on the margins of society.
The Eternal Daughter
Director: Joanna Hogg
Main Cast: Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies
Synopsis: The Souvenir director Joanna Hogg’s new film is a ghost story, telling the tale of a middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother. The two must confront long-buried secrets when they return to their former family home, a once-grand manor and now a nearly vacant, mysterious hotel.
Beyond the wall
Director: Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast: Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi, Amir Aghaee
Synopsis: The life of a blind man starts to fall apart when a wandering woman enters his life.
The Banshees of Inisherin
Director: Martin McDonagh
Main Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan
Synopsis: The director of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is back with a film set in Ireland, centering on a conflict that arises between two friends when one of them abruptly ends their friendship. Or, in Alberto Barbera’s words, “A Beckett kind of story.”
Argentina, 1985
Director: Santiago Mitre
Main Cast: Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, Norman Briski
Synopsis: Argentina, 1985 is inspired by the true story of Julio Strassera, Luis Moreno Ocampo, and their young legal team of unlikely heroes in their David-vs-Goliath battle, in which, under constant threat, they dared to prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship against all odds and in a race against time to bring justice to the victims of the Military Junta.
Chiara
Director: Susanna Nicchiarelli
Main Cast: Margherita Mazzucco, Andrea Carpenzano, Carlotta Natoli, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Luigi Lo Cascio
Synopsis: The director of Nico, 1988 is back with a film that tells the story of St. Clare of Assisi, and that has been put together after years of research.
Monica
Director: Andrea Pallaoro
Main Cast: Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close
Synopsis: Monica is an intimate portrait of a woman who returns home after a long absence to confront the wounds of her past. Reconnecting with her mother and the rest of her family for the first time since leaving as a teenager, Monica embarks on a path of healing and acceptance. The film delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind, her pain and fears, her needs and desires, to explore the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness.
No Bears
Director: Jafar Panahi
Main Cast: Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari
Synopsis: One of the most prominent among Iranian film directors and screenwriters, Jafar Panahi has unfortunately just been arrested in his home country again, but his new film is still premiering at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. No Bears tells two parallel love stories in which the partners are thwarted by hidden, inevitable obstacles, the force of superstition, and the mechanics of power.
All the beauty and the Bloodshed
Director: Laura Poitras
Synopsis: Documentarian Laura Poitras’s latest film is about extraordinary artist Nan Goldin and paints the picture of a whole generation – the generation that gave birth to the myth of the 1970s-80s underground New York City scene.
Un Couple
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Main Cast: Nathalie Boutefeu
Synopsis: Not much is known about Un Couple yet, but Wiseman made this film with collaborator Nathalie Boutefeu while he was isolated in the Parisian countriside.
The Son
Director: Florian Zeller
Main Cast: Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie
Synopsis: The director of The Father is back with the story of a man whose busy life with his new partner and their baby is thrown into chaos when his ex-wife turns up with their teenage son.
Our Ties
Director: Roschdy Zem
Main Cast: Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Meriem Serbah, Maïwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, Abel Jafrei, Nina Zem
Synopsis: At Venezia 79 ‘s press conference, Alberto Barbera said that many describe Les Miens as “the first French film about a middle-class Maghrebi family.”
Other People’s Children
Director: Rebecca Zlotowski
Main Cast: Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira
Synopsis: Other People’s Children tells a personal story for director Rebecca Zlotowski, and revolves around a childless woman who forms a deep bond with her boyfriend’s young daughter.
2022 Venice Film Festival: OUT OF COMPETITION
Fiction
The Hanging Sun
Director: Francesco Carrozzini
Main cast: Alessandro Borghi, Jessica Brown Findlay, Sam Spruell, Frederick Schmidt, Raphael Vicas, Peter Mullan, Charles Dance
Synopsis: Based on the novel “Midnight Sun” by Jo Nesbo, this noir thriller is set amidst the rarefied atmospheres of the Norwegian summer where the sun never sets. On the run from his former employer, a reluctant hitman seeks refuge in an isolated village where he is faced with events that test the true nature of his conscience. This Sky production will
When the Waves are Gone
Director: Lav Diaz
Main cast: John Lloyd Cruz, Ronnie Lazaro, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Dms Boongaling
Synopsis: Lav Diaz’ new film is about one of the best investigators of the Philippine who finds himself in a moral crossroad, after having witnessed his institution’s being a party to a murderous anti-drug campaign promoted by president Rodrigo Duterte.
Living
Director: Oliver Hermanus
Main cast: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke
Synopsis: Living is the only film in the 2022 Venice Film Festival ‘s program that has already had its World Premiere at another festival (Sundance, in January). But the exception was made by Venezia 79 as a homage to jury member Kazuo Ishiguro: the film is the remake of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Ikiru – only, with the events taking place no longer in Japan but in 1950s London.
Dead for a Dollar
Director: Walter Hill
Main cast: Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Warren Burke, Benjamin Bratt
Synopsis: This western follows a famed bounty hunter who runs into his sworn enemy, a professional gambler and outlaw that he had sent to prison years before. Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, and Rachel Brosnahan have all been confirmed in attendance at Venezia 79.
Call of God
Director: KIM Ki-Duk
Main cast: Zhanel Sergazina, Abylai Maratov
Synopsis: Kim Ki-Duk’s latest work has been completed by estonian director Weber.
Dreamin’ Wild
Director: Bill Pohlad
Main cast: Casey Affleck, Noah Jupe, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Messina, Jack Dylan Grazer, Walton Goggins, Beau Bridges
Synopsis: Two very young musicians living in a remote US town in the country decide to record a music album. The album isn’t successful, and only one of them keeps pursuing music
Master Gardener (Career Golden Lion to Paul Schrader)
Director: Paul Schrader
Main cast: Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Quintessa Swindell
Synopsis: A meticulous horticulturist who is devoted to tending the grounds of a beautiful estate and pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager.
Siccita
Director: Paolo Virzì
Main cast: Claudia Pandolfi, Silvio Orlando, Valerio Mastandrea, Sara Serraiocco, Elena Lietti, Gabriel Montesi, Tommaso Ragno, Max Tortora, Monica Bellucci, Diego Ribon, Vinicio Marchioni, Emanuela Fanelli
Synopsis: It hasn’t rained in Rome for 3 years. Regulations and customs change as a group of intertwined characters deal with the water shortage.
Pearl
Director: Ti West
Main cast: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro
Synopsis: This “X-traordinary” origin story is the prequel to Ti West’s incredibly successful slasher film X, which came out earlier this year. Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions all collide. Pearl will be screened at midnight on the first Saturday of the festival!
Don’t Worry Darling
Director: Olivia Wilde
Main cast: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan
Synopsis: This stunning psychological thriller is about a couple, Alice (Pugh) and Jack (Styles), who live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. Life is perfect in this desert utopia, with their every need met by the company in return for discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause. But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister, Alice starts questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why.
Non Fiction
Freedom on fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Directors: Evgeny Afineevsky & Alex Kashpur
Synopsis: A militant film recorded with sync sound, made on events that are still hapening to this day. In Alberto Barbera’s words, “it’s a testimony and a document that’s destined to become subject of future history.”
Gli Ultimi Giorni Dell’Umanita
Directors: Enrico Ghezzi & Alessandro Gagliardo
Synopsis: Filmed over the course of nearly three years, the film is a meditation on life as seen by someone behind the camera.
A Compassionate Spy
Director: Steve James
Synopsis: A compelling documentary about a brilliant young physicist who was called to be part of the Manhattan Project – which led to the creation of the atomic bomb – and eventually decided to become a spy for the Russians, moved by his ideals.
Music for Black Pigeons
Directors: Jorgen Leth & Andreas Koefoed
Synopsis: What does it feel like to play music and to listen to it? Director Jørgen Leth poses the same question to musicians, who try to describe what it is to make music.Det Danske Filminstitut describes this documentary as “a cinematic improvisation piece about creating somethinf unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.” Musician Jakob Bro might be present at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.
The Kiev Trial
Director: Sergei Loznitsa
Synopsis: The Kiev Trial documents the trial in Ukraine against the nazi hierarcs who led to the extermination of jews in the country.
In Viaggio
Director: Gianfranco Rosi
Synopsis: For the first time, the director of Notturno and Sacro Gra edits something that wasn’t filmed by himself, documenting Pope Francis“via crucis” travels like we’ve never seen them before.
Bobi Wine Ghetto President
Directors: Christopher Sharp & Moses Bwayo
Synopsis: A documentary about Uganda’s “ghetto president” Bobi Wine, who is confirmed in attendance at the festival.
Nuclear
Director: Oliver Stone
Synopsis: Is nuclear power to be avoided, or can it actually save humanity?
SERIES
Copenhagen Cowboy: Episodes 1-6
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Main Cast: Angela Bundalovic, Andreas Lykke Jorgensen, Li li Zhang, Zlatko Buric, Ramadan Huseini, Dragana Milutinovic
Synopsis: A young heroine named Miu travels through Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld.
Riged Exodus (The Kingdom Exodus): Episodes 1-5
Director: Lars Von Trier
Main Cast: Bodil Jørgensen, Mikael Persbrandt, Tuva Novotny, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Nicolas Bro, Alexander Skarsgård
Synopsis: Heavily influenced by the ghostly series The Kingdom, the sleepwalker Karen seeks answers to the unresolved questions of the series in order to save the hospital from doom. Sound asleep one night, Karen wanders into the darkness and inexplicably ends up in front of the hospital. The gate to the Kingdom is opening once more…
SHORT FILMS
A Guerra Finita
Director: Simone Massi
Voiced by: Gino Strada
Camarera de Piso
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Cast: Jorgelina Contreras, Daniel Valenzuela, Anavelí Acero, Ariel Gigena
In Quanto a Noi
Director: Simone Massi
Voiced by: Wim Wenders
Look at me
Director: Sally Potter
Cast: Javier Bardem, Chris Rock
HORİZONS EXTRA
Origin Of Evil (Yön. Sebastien Marnier) (açılış filmi)
Hanging Gardens (Yön. Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji)
Amanda (Yön. Carolina Cavalli)
Red Shoes (Yön. Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser)
Nezouh (Yön. Soudade Kaadan)
Notte Fantasma (Yön. Fulvio Risuleo)
Without Her (Yön. Arian Vazirdaftari)
Valeria Is Getting Married (Yön. Michal Vinik)
Goliath (Yön. Adilkhan Yerzhanov)
HORİZONS
Princess (Yön. Roberto De Paolis) (açılış filmi)
Victim (Yön. Michal Blasko)
On The Fringe (Yön. Juan Diego Botto)
Trenque Lauquen (Yön. Laura Citarella)
Vera (Yön. Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel)
Innocence (Yön. Guy Davidi)
Blanquita (Yön. Fernando Guzzoni)
For My Country (Yön. Rachid Hami)
A Man (Yön. Kei Ishikawa)
Bread And Salt (Yön. Damian Kocur)
Luxembourg, Luxembourg (Yön. Antonio Lukich)
Ti Mangio Il Cuore (Yön. Pippo Mezzapesa)
To The North (Yön. Mihai Mincan)
Autobiography (Yön. Makbul Mubarak)
The Sitting Duck (Yön. Jean-Paul Salome)
World War III (Yön. Houman Seyedi)
The Happiest Man In The World (Yön. Teona Strugar Mitevska)
The Bride (Yön. Sergio Trefaut)