69th Venice Film Festival on the way!
This year is the 80th anniversary of the first edition of the Venice Film festival, which started at the Excelsior Hotel on the Lido in 1932, but it is only the 69th edition of the event, scheduled to take place August 29-Sept. 8 this year 2012.
Thinking about film festivals in Europe, there are two main events coming up to one’s mind. One is the Cannes Film Festival, which has only just passed to give room to one of Italy’s leading events ever: all cinephiles are already looking forward to August, for the 69th Venice Film Festival.
The Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia is the oldest international film festival in the world, founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932. Therefore, this is actually going to be the 80th anniversary of the Venice festival, although is only the 69th edition of the event itself, as it has been paused in past years during periods of war and other periods of turmoil. The Venice Film Festival is one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals and is part of the Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world, founded in 1895.
Hollywood director, producer, and screenwriter Michael Mann – best known for his work with the Miami Vice television series and the subsequent film – will head the main international jury at the next edition of the Film Festival, scheduled for August 29th – September 8th, this year.
As jury president, he will help decide on the winners of Venice’s main prizes, including the coveted Golden Lion award for the best film among the festival’s 18-film in-competition lineup.
Among the likely candidates to premiere at the fest, according to Barbera, are Terrence Malick’s “To The Wonder“; Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” and Brian De Palma’s sexual potboiler “Passion” starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.
Besides the Golden Lion, the other Film Festival’s awards for the main competition section are Silver Lion – for the Best Director, and the Volpi Cup – for the best actor and actress.
Venice Film Festival big news
First of all, Barbera has decided to include a smaller number of films playing the fest, with less than 50 expected to be selected for the three categories: In Competition, Horizons – open to all “custom-format” works, with a wider view towards new trends, and Out Of Competition. The aim is to give a bigger shine to the selected movies.
Moreover, YouTube, in partnership with Emirates, la Biennale di Venezia and Scott Free Productions, announced Your Film Festival – a global competition to find the world’s best storytellers. Films are being voted on YouTube until July 13th, and actor Michael Fassbender will be in charge to nominate the winners.
Finally, to honor the 80th anniversary of the first Venice festival, organizers will restore 10 rare films from the Historic Archives of the Contemporary Arts of the Biennale for the screenings on the Lido, due to form the customary year’s retrospective. Indeed, the festival’s retrospective normally focuses on a specific director or genre. But the festival said it had selected the ten films in this year’s retrospective based purely on rarity: many of them are the only existing copies of films, or copies of earlier versions of films that differ from the versions later released on cinemas. These include Free at Last, directed by Gregory Shuker in 1968, Poslednjaja noc (The Last Night) by Yuli Yakovlevich Raisman, 1936, and the short Ahora te vamos a llamar hermano (Now We’re Going to Call You Brother), by director Raul Ruiz.
Afterwards, the copies will be made available for cultural events and commercial re-release. All screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, Venezia Lido, and in other venues nearby.
Photo by spaceodissey
About the Author
Daniela Hi, I am Daniela and I am passionate about creative languages - especially in advertising - voyages, wine&food and. .. shoes. I was born in Canada and now I live in Sicily, where I'm a travel and new trends writer and blogger, combining with this activity a strong devotion to the world of hotel hospitality. I also translate texts and websites in English and collaborate with several wineries being specialized in copywriting about wines and territories, interpreting and guided tours.
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