30th European Film Awards - Film Selection

A few days back the European Film Academy announced the Film Selection for the current edition of this European film award.  The list with fifty-one (51) films features fiction films recommended for a nomination for the 2017 EFA awards and has 31 European countries represented plus no doubt that once again illustrates the great diversity in European cinema.

In the 20 countries with the most EFA Members, these members have voted one national film directly into the selection list. To complete the list, a Selection Committee consisting of the EFA Board and invited experts Péter Bognár (Hungary), Dave Calhoun (UK), Giorgio Gosetti (Italy), Christophe Leparc (France), Jacob Neiendam (Denmark) and Alik Shpilyuk (Ukraine) has included further films.

In the coming weeks, the over 3,000 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the categories European Film, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenwriter. The nominations will then be announced on 4 November at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain. A seven-member jury will decide on the awards recipients in the categories European Cinematographer, Editor, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Hair & Make-up Artist, Composer and Sound Designer.

The 30th European Film Awards with the presentation of the winners will take place on 9 December in Berlin.

2017 Film Selection

A Ciambra, Jonas Carpignano, Italy, USA, France and Sweden
A Date for Mad Mary, Darren Thornton, Ireland
A Fabrica de Nada (The Nothing Factory), Pedro Pinho, Portugal
A Monster Calls, J.A. Bayona, Spain
Ana Mon Amour, Calin-Peter Netzer, Romania, Germany and France

Baba Z Ledu (Ice Mother), Bohdan Slama, Czech Republic, Slovakia and France
BPM (Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France
Bezbog (Godless), Ralitza Petrova, Bulgaria, Denmark and France
Brimstone, Martin Koolhoven, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden, UK and Hungary
Du Vorsvinder (You Disappear), Peter Schonau Fpg. Denmark and Sweden

Estiu 1993 (Summer 1993), Carla Simon, Spain
Fortunata, Sergio Castellitto, Italy
Frantz, Francois Ozon, France and Germany
Frost, Sharunas Bartas, Lithuania, France, Poland and Ukraine
Happy End, Michael Haneke, France, Germany and Austria

Hjartasteinn (Heartstone), Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Iceland and Denmark
Home, Fien Troch, Belgium
In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts (In Times of Fading LIght), Matti Geschonneck, Germany
Indivisibili (Indivisible), Edoardo De Angelis, Italy
Insyriated, Philippe Van Leeuw, Belgium and France

Istambul Kirmizisi (Istambul Red),  Ferzan Ozpetek, Turkey and Italy
Jupiter Holdja (Jupiter's Moon), Kornel Mondruczo, Hungary and Germany
Koca Dunya (Big Big World), Reha Erdem
Kongens Nei (The King's Choice), Erik Poppe, Norway Denmark, Sweden and Ireland
Krotkaya (A Gentle Creature), Sergei Loznitsa, France, Germany, Lithuania and Netherlands

Lady Macbeth, William Oldroyd, UK
Layla M., Mijke de Jong, Netherlands, Jordan, Belgium and Germany
Moya Babusya Fani Kaplan (My Grandmother Fanny Kaplan), Olena Demyanenko, Ukraine
Nelyubov (Loveless), Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia, Belgium, Germany and France
O Gios tis Sofias (Son of Sofia), Elina Psykou, Greece, Bulgaria and France

Ostatnia Rodzina (The Last Family), Jan P. Matuszynski, Poland
Pokot (Spoor), Agnieszka Holland and Katarzyna Adamik, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden and Slovakia
Powidoki (Afterimage), Andrzej Wajda, Poland
Rai (Paradise), Andrei Konchalovsky, Russia and Germany
Rekvijem za gospodu J. (Requiem for Mrs. J.), Bojan Vuletic, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia and France

Return to Montauk, Volker Schlondorff, Germany, France and Ireland
Sameblod (Sami Blood), Amanda Kernell, Sweden, Denmark and Norway
Tarde para la Ira (The Fury of a Patient Man), Raul Arevalo, Spain
Testrol Es Lelekrol (On Baody and Soul), Ildiko Enyedi, Hungary
The Killing of a Sacree Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland and UK

The Party, Sally Potter, UK
The Square, Ruben Ostlund, Sweden, Germany, France and Denmark
Toivon tuolla puolen (The Other Side of Hope), Aki Kaurismaki, Finland and Germany
Tom of Finland, Dome Krukoski, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark
Un Beau Soleil Interieur (Bright Sunshine In), Claire Denis, France

Un Juif Pour L'exemple (A Jew Must Die), Jacob Berger, Switzerland
Ustav Republike Hrvatske (The Constitution), Rajko Grlic, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Macedonia
Ucitel'ka (The Teacher), Jan Hrebejk, Slovakia and Czech Republic
Vor der Morgenrote (Stefan Zweig-Farewell to Europe), Maria Schrader, Germany, Austria and France
Western, Valeska Grisebach, Germany, Bulgaria and Austria

Wilde Maus (Wild Mouse), Josef Hader, Austria

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30th European Film Awards - Documentary Selection

Yesterday the European Film Academy released the documentary selection for the current edition of the annual awards.

The selection has fifteen (15) documentaries recommended for a nomination with ten (10) being recommended by documentary festivals chosen in co-operation with the European Documentary Network (EDN), these festivals are:

-IDFA (Netherlands)
-CPH:DOX (Denmark)
-Visions du Réel (Switzerland)
-DokLeipzig (Germany)
-Docslisboa (Portugal)
-Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Greece)
-Jihlava (Czech Republic)
-Cinéma du Réel (France)
-Krakow Film Festival (Poland)
-Sheffield Doc/Fest (UK)

Based on their recommendations and the films individually submitted, the documentary committee, consisting of EFA Board Members Roberto Cicutto (Italy), Vanessa Henneman (Netherlands) and Marek Rozenbaum (Israel), commissioning editor Sari Volanen (YLE, Finland) and documentary expert Paul Pauwels (European Documentary Network, Belgium) decided on the EFA Documentary Selection.

The following is the EFA Documentary Selection 2017

Austerlitz, Sergei Loznitsa, Germany
Das grüne Gold (Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas), Joakim Demmer, Sweden, Germany and Finland
How To Meet A Mermaid, Coco Schrijber, Netherlands and Denmark
Hyvä postimies (The Good Postman), Tonislav Hristov, Finland and Bulgary
In Loco Parentis (School Life), Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane, Ireland and Spain
Komunia (Communion), Anna Zamecka, Poland
La Chana, Lucija Stojevic, Spain, Iceland and USA
Le vénérable W. (The Venerable W), Barbet Schroeder, France and Switzerland
Liberami (Libera Nos), Federica Di Giacomo, Italy and France
Nothingwood, Sonia Kronlund, France and Germany
Stranger in Paradise, Guido Hendrikx, Netherllands
Taste of Cement, Ziad Kalthoum, Germany, Lebanon, Syria, UAE, and Qatar
The War Show, Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon, Denmark, Syria and Finland
Ultra, Balázs Simonyi, Hungary and Greece
West of the Jordan River (Field Diary Revisited), Amos Gitaï, Israel and France



EFA Members will now vote for five documentary nominations which will be announced, along all other categories nominations, on November 5 at the Seville European Film Festival. Based on these nominations, the EFA Members will then elect the European Documentary 2017 which will be announced during the awards ceremony on 9 December in Berlin.

To check posters from the 15 docs in the selection go to my Pinterest here.

There are some documentaries that besides seeming interesting, come with great credentials as were premiered at Cannes and are directed by outstanding filmmakers; as an example of films quality, think about films by Sergei Loznitza, Amos Gitaï and Barbet Schroeder.  Also remarkable is finding female directors in the selection, even do proportion is always too-low.

Most festival documentaries were already known to me, but the greatest discovery is a doc that seems to have great visuals and a compelling (bit disturbing) story presented perhaps in the most easy-to-watch way -to ease subject matter sensibilities-.  Talking about How to Meet a Mermaid which has become must be seen for me.

Austerlitz by Sergei Loznitsa
Premiered at 2016 Venice Film fest.
Synopsis:There are places in Europe that have remained as painful memories of the past - factories where humans were turned into ash. These places are now memorial sites that are open to the public and receive thousands of tourists every year. The film's title refers to the eponymous novel written by W.G. Sebald, dedicated to the memory of Holocaust. This film is an observation of the visitors to a memorial site that has been founded on the territory of a former concentration camp. Why do they go there? What are they looking for?

Trailer



Das grüne Gold (Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas) by Joakim Demmer
Synopsis: Farmland - the new green gold. Hoping for export revenues, Ethiopia's government leases millions of hectares of farmland to foreign investors. But the dream of prosperity has a dark side where the World Bank plays a very questionable role... Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas investigates land grabbing and its impact on people's lives. Pursuing the truth, we meet investors, development bureaucrats, persecuted journalists, struggling environmentalists and evicted farmers deprived of their land.

Trailer



How To Meet A Mermaid by Coco Schrijber
Synopsis: Lex Schrijber went on a diving trip to Egypt in October 2000, but he never returned. His shoes, clothes and diver’s knife were found – stacked neatly – on a Red Sea beach. A diver never dives without his knife, and this fact alone was proof enough to filmmaker Coco Schrijber that her brother had made a fateful decision that day. Fifteen years later, she returns to the place where Lex was last seen, to find out why he disappeared and whether there were witnesses to his final hours. As in her previous work (including First Kill and Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies), Schrijber takes a multilayered, essay-like approach complemented by a lavish soundtrack, with the sea both alluring and repelling. Scenes of her search are juxtaposed with gorgeous seascapes that capture both the beauty and the destructive power of the ocean. She broadens the narrative from the personal perspective on Lex’s story by connecting it with the tales of Mexican surfer Miguel as he prepares his flight across the ocean, and the tragedy surrounding Rebecca, who disappeared from a cruise ship.

Trailer



Hyvä postimies (The Good Postman) by Tonislav Hristov
2017 Sundance films fest
Synopsis: In an almost deserted Bulgarian village on the border with Turkey, known for centuries as “The Great Gate,” there are only 38 voters left. Among the candidates running for mayor is Ivan the postman. He has come up with an unconventional and generous-minded plan to breathe new life into his village. Since the times of the Roman and Ottoman Empires, refugees have been entering Europe through this “gate.” So why not offer the passing Syrian refugees a home and a new beginning in the empty village? Ivan’s main rival is against the idea, and it’s not entirely clear what the incumbent mayor thinks. The film follows the three candidates’ campaigns as they attempt to appeal to their elderly electorate. In this tragicomic portrait of a sleepy village that suddenly finds itself at the center of current affairs, we see how the villagers’ fears and worries compete with their hope and compassion.

Trailer



In Loco Parentis (School Life) by Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane
Premiered at 2017 Sundance film fest.
Synopsis: A year in the life of two passionate and inspiring teachers (one of music, Latin and math, the other of literature) working at the only boarding school in Ireland for children ages 7 to 12. Headfort School, a huge building set in idyllic surroundings, is their life. John and Amanda Leyden met there in their twenties, married and have since lived their lives on the school grounds. The current headmaster, a passionate and progressive teacher himself, is a former student of John’s. In addition to teaching, John and Amanda serve as mentors, inspirations and surrogate parents for the children. Their workdays are long and they are both getting on in years, so the couple starts making cautious preparations for the end of their tenure at Headfort. But will they be able to live without the school? Filmmakers Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane follow the goings-on in the school in fly-on-the-wall style, to poignant, unpredictable and surprising effect.

Trailer



Komunia (Communion) by Anna Zamecka
Synopsis: When adults are ineffectual, children have to grow up quickly. Ola is 14 and she takes care of her dysfunctional father, autistic brother and a mother who lives separately; but most of all she tries to reunite the family. She lives in the hope of bringing her mother back home. Her 13 year old brother Nikodem’s Holy Communion is a pretext for the family to meet up. Ola is entirely responsible for preparing the perfect family celebration. "Communion" reveals the beauty of the rejected, the strength of the weak and the need for change when change seems impossible. This crash course in growing up teaches us that no failure is final. Especially when love is in question.

Trailer



La Chana by Lucija Stojevic
Synopsis: La Chana was one of the greatest stars in the flamenco world, captivating audiences worldwide with her innovative style and breathtaking use of rhythm in the 1960s and 1970s. Peter Sellers, with whom she features in The Bobo (1967), invited her to Hollywood. Instead, at the peak of her career, she disappeared from the scene.
LA CHANA brings us close to the heart and mid of La Chana, the self-taught Gypsy dancer, Antonia Santiago Amador, as she returns to the stage to give a final seated performance after a break of two decades. Along the way, La Chana reveals the secret behind her disappearance: for 18 years she was the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her first husband.
In this dramatic story about the process and power of creativity, about aging, perseverance and re-invention, La Chana crystallizes the inevitable clashes between her life’s extremes and contradictions; between the artist on stage and the woman behind the scenes.

Trailer



Le vénérable W. (The Venerable W) by Barbet Schroeder
Premiered at 2017 Cannes.
Synopsis: In Burma, the “Venerable Wirathu” is a highly respected and influential Buddhist monk. Meeting him amounts to traveling to the heart of everyday racism and observing how Islamophobia and hate speech lead to violence and destruction. Yet this is a country in which 90% of the population has adopted Buddhism as a faith: a religion based on a peaceful, tolerant and non-violent way of life.

Trailer



Liberami (Libera Nos) by Federica Di Giacomo
Premiered at 2016 Venice Film fest, winner of Orizzonti Best Film. (aka Deliver Us)
Synopsis: Every year, in Italy, in Europe and in the world, a higher and higher number of people affirms to feel possessed by Satan. The Catholic Church responds to this emergency training more and more exorcist priests. The veteran Father Cataldo is one of them. Gloria, Enrico, Anna and Giulia follow, Father Cataldo’s mass and look for a cure to their disease, for which they’re not able to find labels nor answers. To what extent is each of us, believer or not, ready to push himself to show other people a discomfort, an illness? And even it actually was Satan, what are we ready to suffer, to be “delivered from evil” here and now? LIBERA NOS is the story about the practice of exorcism and people’s issues of everyday life: the contrasts between ancient traditions and modern habits, between sacred and profane, meet in this astonishing documentary and reveal themselves disturbing and hilarious at the same time.

Trailer



Nothingwood by Sonia Kronlund
Premiered at 2017 Cannes Quinzaine.
Synopsis: A hundred kilometers from Kabul, Salim Shaheen, a famous Afghan actor, director, and producer, has come to screen some of his 110 films and shoot the 111th. This trip, on which he has brought along his troupe of actors, each more eccentric and uncontrollable than the next, offers an opportunity to get to know this cinephile, who produces an endless stream of Z-grade movies in a country that has been at war for more than 30 years.

Trailer



Stranger in Paradise by Guido Hendrikx
Synopsis: In a classroom newly arrived refugees learn a lesson about multifaceted Europe. Operating at the intersection of fiction and documentary, Stranger in Paradise reflects on the power relations between Europeans and refugees in a candid fashion.

"If Lars Von Trier were to make a documentary about the current immigration crisis in Europe, it might very well turn out like Stranger in Paradise, the debut feature by Guido Hendrikx." Variety

Trailer



Taste of Cement by Ziad Kalthoum
Synopsis: A portrait of workers in exile. An empathetic encounter with people who have lost their past and their future, locked in the recurring present. Ziad Kalthoum creates an essay documentary of Syrian construction workers building new skyscrapers in Beirut on the ruins caused by the Lebanese civil war. At the same time their own houses are being bombed in Syria. A Curfew prohibits them from leaving the construction site after work. Every night in their pit below the skyscraper the news from their homeland and the memories of the war chase them. Mute and imprisoned in the cement underground, they must endure until the new day arrives where the hammering and welding drowns out their nightmares.

Trailer



The War Show by Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon
Premiered at 2016 Venice Film fest, winner of Fedeora Award Best Film at Venice Days
Synopsis: In March 2011, radio host Obaidah Zytoon and friends join the street protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Knowing the Arab Spring will forever change their country, this group of artists and activists begin filming their lives and the events around them. But as the regime’s violent response spirals the country into a bloody civil war, their hopes for a better future will be tested by violence, imprisonment and death. A deeply personal road movie, The War Show captures the fate of Syria through the intimate lens of a small circle of friends.

Trailer



Ultra, Balázs Simonyi
Synopsis: Held since 1983, the Spartathlon is a 246-km ultramarathon race following the identical route taken by an Athenian messenger sent to Sparta in 490 BC during the first Greco-Persian Wars, just before the Battle of Marathon opposing Athens and the Persians. Per Herodotus’ version, he left at dawn and managed to arrive at his destination before nightfall the following day; but it was in vain, the Spartans having refused their help. It is this exploit that the “marathoners” are attempting to reproduce, as they set off at the end of summer each year from the foot of the Acropolis to reach Sparta in 36 hours, which means an average speed of 7 kmph. Balazs Simonyi followed four of them, men and women, including himself, as he too participates in the race. Although Ultra respects the chronology of the long-distance run, the camera ventures into its side-lines, and films the athletes’ friends and family for whom the experience is also intense. The Spartathlon consequently resembles an individual and/or family psychodrama, in which the fact of “surpassing oneself” means physically testing the absurdity of our human condition.

Trailer



West of the Jordan River (Field Diary Revisited), Amos Gitaï,
Premiered at 2017 Cannes.
Synopsis:Amos Gitai returns to the occupied territories for the first time since his documentary Journal de campagne (1982). Gitai travels through the West Bank, where he witnesses the efforts of Israeli and Palestinian citizens to attempt to overcome the consequences of an occupation that has lasted for fifty years.

Trailer

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74th Venice International Film Festival Lineup

Today, August 7, 2017 organizers announce three (3) more films in the selection, one is out of competition, another is a special screening and the last one is a documentary in Venezia Classici section.

The two films are by well-known directors, first is the much-awaited return of John Woo to the crime thriller which made him famous and second, outstanding filmmaker Andrea Segre latest opus which hope has his peculiar storytelling style even when story is about immigration to Europe.

Just noticed la Biennale di Venezia changed its website, so have to find where is everything as not being able to find where is the Special Screenings or maybe the movie announced today is the only one (probably not).  While learn about the site will write the Andrea Segre film data in the following paragraph.

Special Screening: L'ordine delle Cose, Andrea Segre, Italy

To check the news at official site go here

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1/27/17
The complete line-up of the 2017 Biennale was announced during a press conference that took place on Thursday, July 27th in Rome.  The conference was streamed live and to my delight was able to watch the end with the live announcement of the 21 films in the main competition.

Believe must of us were expecting a very strong lineup as already knew the films that didn't make it to the other two main competitive festivals and well, the lineup is great but is not as strong as I was hoping for.  Still will not deny that I'm very pleased to find in the competition the latest films by Aronofsky and Kechiche.  Talking about Kechiche, his film is the first installment in a diptych -that could become triptych- based on Francois Bégaudeau’s book La blessure, la vraie, a saga centering around a screenwriter who returns to his hometown.

Another film that could be interesting is the debut film by Xavier Legrand as he's the director of the 2013 short film that went on to collect an Oscar nomination.  I loved Lebanon and now Samuel Maoz is in competition with Foxtrot which becomes must-be-seen for me.

Most unexpected is to find Lucrecia Martel's Zuma and Anne Fontaine's Marvin not in competition but relegated to Out of Competition the first and the Orizzonti section -the second-.  Really wonder how some American movies in competition could be "better" than films by Martel or Fontaine; so, there was room in the competition, just take 2 films and voila! two extraordinary female filmmakers would have been in the competition that -by the way- has only one female director.  Sigh.

On the not-so-good side, there are too many American films for my taste but know the festival is trying to be the harbinger to the Oscars and seems that last year its effort were successful as not only the festival opening film "almost" won the top Oscar (LOL) but also there were other films with nominations.

No doubt that the best news for many non-cinephiles is Jennifer Lawrence attending the festival, which obviously will give fest lots and lots of social media buzz and press coverage. Yes, I'm please with her doing all the crazy antics she does.

The festival will run from August 30 to September 9 and will update post with additions as soon as they're announced, if applicable.  Was waiting for the official press release but seems this year organizers will take their time releasing more data about the festival.  As of this moment, Saturday,  July 29th, the post is updated with all films in all sections, including the ones that have been added yesterday; so, maybe, no more updates will come, but will be checking constantly.

There are twenty-one (21) films in the competition, seven (7) are USA productions or co productions which makes it the leading country, followed by  France with 6, Italy 5, UK and Germany with 2 each, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, Lebanon and Israel with 1 each.

Have finished reading/learning about each of the 21 films in competition and from the ones I knew nothing, the biggest surprise undoubtedly is Guillermo del Toro's movie as from trailer seems will be quite entertaining while being dramatic, yes, has become must-be-seen for me.  From the little info available for some films is not easy to guess if any will qualify for the Queer Lion, which is unusual as always there is something in synopsis that gives it away.   Maybe Queer Lion contenders will come from other sections but soon enough we will learn the lineup.

Venezia 74 Competition
International competition of feature films, presented as world premieres

Opening Film: Downsizing, Alexander Payne, USA
Ammore e Malavita, Manetti Brothers, Italy
Ex Libris.  The New York Public Library, Frederick Wiseman, USA (documentary)
First Reformed, Paul Schrader, USA
Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz, Israel, Germany, France and Switzerland
Hannah, Andrea Pallaoro, Italy, Belgium and France
Human Flow, Ai Weiwei, Germany and USA (documentary)
嘉年華 Jia nian hua (Angels Wear White), Vivian Qu, China and France
Jusqu'à la garde, Xavier Legrand, France
La Villa (The House by the Sea), Robert Guédiguian, France
L'Insulte (The Insult), Ziad Doueiri, France and Lebanon
Lean on Pete, Andrew Haigh, UK
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, Abdellatif Kechiche, France and Italy
mother!, Daren Aronofsky, USA
三度目の殺人 Sandome no Satsujin (The Third Murder), Koreeda Hirokazu, Japan
Suburbicon, George Clooney, USA
Sweet Country, Warwick Thornton, Australia
The Leisure Seeker, Paolo Virzì, Italy
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro, USA
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh, UK
Una Famiglia, Sebastiano Riso, Italy

Jury
President: Annette Bening, actress, USA
Ildikó Enyedi, director and screenwriter, Hungary
Michel Franco, director, producer and screenwriter, Mexico
Rebecca Hall, actress, UK
Anna Mouglalis, actress, France
David Stratton, film critic, UK and Australia
Jasmine Trinca, actress, Italy
Edgar Wright, director and screenwriter, UK
Yonfan, director, producer and screenwriter



Out of Competition
Important works by directors already established in previous editions of the Festival

Feature Films
アウトレイジ 最終章 Autoreiji Saishusho (Outrage Coda), Takeshi Kitano, Japan
Brawl in Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler, USA
Il Colore Nascosto delle Cose, Silvio Soldini, Italy and Switzerland
La mélodie, Rachid Hami, France
Le Fidèle (Racer and the Jailbird), Michaël R. Roskam, Belgium, France and Netherlands
Loving Pablo, Fernando León de Aranoa, Spain and Bulgaria
Our Souls at Night, Ritesh Batra, USA
The Private Life of a Modern Woman, James Toback, USA
Victoria & Abdul, Stephen Frears, UK
Zama, Lucercia Martel, Argentina and Brazil
追捕 Zhuibu (Manhunt), John Woo, China and Hong Kong

Documentaries
Cuba and the Cameraman, Jon Alpert, USA
Diva!, Francesco Patierno, Italy 
Happy Winter, Giovanni Totaro, Italy
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond. The Story of Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton, Chris Smith, USA and Canada
My Generation, David Batty, UK
Piazza Vittorio, Abel Ferrara, Italy
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, Stephen Nomura Schible, USA
The Devil and Father Amorth, William Friedkin, USA 
This is Congo, Daniel McCabe, Congo

TV Series
Wormwood, Errol Morris, USA (6 episodes)

Special Events
Casa d'Altri, Gianni Amelio, Italy, 16'
Il Signor Rotpeter, Antonietta de Lillo, Italy, 37'
Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, Jerry Kramer, USA, 45'
Michael Jackson's Thriller 3D, John Landis, USA, 14'



Orizzonti
A competition dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema.

Feature Films
بدون تاریخ بدون امضاء Bedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza (No Date, No Signature), Vahid Jalilvand, Iran
Brutti e Cattivi (Ugly Nasty People), Cosimo Gomez, Italy and France
Caniba, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, France
Espèces menacées, Gilles Bourdos, France and Belgium
Gatta Cenerentola, Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marion Guarnieri and Dario Sansone,  Italy (animation)
Ha Ben Dod (The Cousin), Tzahi Grad, Israel
Ha'Edut (The Testament), Amichai Greenberg, Israel and Austria
Invisible, Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Germany
Krieg, Rick Ostermann, Germany
La Nuit ou J'ai Nage (The Night I Swam), Damien Manivel and Igarashi Kohei, France and Japan'
La Vita in Comune, Edoardo Winspeare, Italy
Les Bienheureux, Sofia Djama, France and Belgium
Los Versos del Olvido, Alireza Khatami, France, Germany, Netherlands and Chile
Marvin, Anne Fontaine, France
الإختفاء Napadid Shodan (Disappearance), Ali Asgari, Iran and Qatar
Nico, 1988, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Italy and Belgium
The Rape of Recy Taylor, Nancy Buirski, USA
Undir trénu (Under the Tree), Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, Iceland, Denmark, Poland and Germany
West of Sunshine, Jason Raftopoulos, Australia

Short Films
8th Continent, Pavlos Iordanopoulos, Greece, 11'
Apia, Myrsini Aristidou, Cyprus and France, 13'
Astrometal, Efthimis Kosemund Sanidis, Greece, 15'
Awasarn Sound Man (Death of the Sound Man), Sorayos Prapapan, Thailand and Myanmar, 16'
By The Pool, Laurynas Bareiša, Lithuania, 16'
Gros Chagrin, Céline Devaux, France, 15' (animation)
Himinn Opinn, Gabriel Sanson and Clyde Gates, Belgium, 19'
Lagi Senang Jaga Sekandang Lembu (It's Easier to Raise Cattle), Amanda Nell Eu, Malaysia, 18'
L'Ombra della Sposa, Alessandra Pescetta, Italy, 11'
Meninas Formicida, João Paulo Miranda Maria, France and Brasil, 12'
Mon Amour, Mon Ami, Adriano Valerio, Italy, 15'
The Knife Salesman, Michael Leonard and Jamie Helmer, Australia, 10' 
Tierra Mojada, Juan Sebastián Mesa Bedoya, Colombia, 17'

Out of Competition Short Films
Futuro Prossimo, Salvatore Mereu, Italy, 18'

Jury
President: Gianni Amelio, director, Italy
Rakhshan Banietemad, director, Iran
Ami Canaan Mann, director, USA
Mark Cousins, director, screenwriter and curator, Ireland
Andrés Duprat, screenwriter and artistic curator, Argentina
Fien Troch, director and screenwriter, Belgium
Rebecca Zlotowski, director and screenwriter, France

Luigi De Laurentis for a Debut Film - Lion of the Future Jury
President: Benoît Jacquot, director and screenwriter, France
Geoff Andrew, author and film programmer, UK
Albert Lee, producer, Hong Kong
Greta Scarano, actress, Italy
Yorgos Zois, director, Greece

Venice Virtual Reality
Competitive section of VR films, with a section of out-of-competition VR films

Alice, The Virtual Reality Play, Mathias Chelebourg, France, 20'
Arden's Wake Expanded, Eugene Yk Chung, USA, 16'
Chuang (In The Pictures), Qing Shao, China, 5' (animation)
Dispatch, Edward Robles, USA and UK, 6'
Dongducheon (Bloodless), Gina Kim, South Korea and USA, 12'
Draw Me Close, Jordan Tannahill, Canada and UK, 15'
Free Whale, Zhang Peibin, China, 7' (animation)
Gomorra VR. We Own the Streets, Enrico Rosati, Italia, 14'
Greenland Melting, Nonny de la Peña, USA, 11'
Hver Sin Stilhed (Separate Silences), Denmark, 17'
I Saw The Future, François Vautier, France, 5'
Jia Zai Lanre Si (The Deserted), Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan, 55'
La Camera Insabbiata, Laurie Anderson and Huang Hsin-Chien, USA, 20' (animation)
Melita, Nicolás Alcalá, USA, 24'
My Name is Peter Stillman, Lysander Ashton and Leo Warner, UK, 6' (animation)
Nefertiti, Richard Mills and Kim-Leigh Pontin, UK, 15' (animation)
Nothing Happens, Uri Kranot and Michelle Kranot, Denmark and France, 14' (animation)
Proxima, Mathieu Pradat, France, 9'
Shi Meng Lao Ren (The Dream Collector), Mi Li, China, 11' (animation)
Snatch VR Heist Experience, Rafael Pavón and Nicolás Alcalá, USA, 5'
The Argos File, Josema Roig, USA, 4'
The Last Goodbye, Gabo Adora, USA, 20'

Out of Competition
Alteration, Jérôme Blanquet, France, 16'
Chromatica, Flavio Costa, Italy, 17'
Dear Angelica, Saschka Unseld, USA, 13' (animation)
Denoise (Beautiful Things), Giorgio Ferrero, Italy, 12'
Mule, Guy Shemerdine, USA, 6'
Miyubi, Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, Canada, 40'
Naive New Beaters "Heal Tomorrow", Romain Chassaing, UK, 4'
On/Off, Camille Duvelleroy and Isabelle Foucrier, France, 10'
Sens. Part 1, Charles Ayats and Marc-Antoine Mathieu, France, 16'

Jury
John Landis, director, USA
Céline Sciamma, director and screenwriter, France
Ricky Tognazzi, director and actor, Italy

Venezia Classici
A selection of restored classic films and documentaries on cinema.  Outstanding selection with films by Antonioni, Bertolucci, Chabrol, Godard, Forman, Ozu, Mizoguchi and many more.  Check films at official site here.

Jury of Cinema History Students
Chair: Giuseppe Piccioni, director, Italy

Cinema nel Giardino
Films, talks and visions with interesting films and one TV series from Italy.  Check all films here.

Videos

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90th Academy Awards Foreign Language Films Submissions

10/6/17 Update - AMPAS surprised many of us with what we can call an early release of the submitted and accepted films to the foreign language film category as usually takes them 10 days or more to announce the complete list. But more interesting is the amount of countries that had films accepted, a new record (!) with 92 submitting films this year, which are seven (7) more countries/films than last year's 85.

There are too many great films in list and too-many films, period. Hopefully new "simplified" process will allow more films to be seen by more people, but believe is just a hope as know that films with strong promotion will have better chances than those without it. Already have received several invitations to private screenings in LA and yes are for films from the great filmmakers as this year list has several master filmmakers like Haneke, Akin, Ostlund, Martel, Roskam, Holland, Lelio, Bartas, Trier, and Zvyagintsev plus perhaps lesser known but already collected great accolades like Alain Gomis, Annemarie Jacir, Mijke de Jong, Jonas Carpignano, Ildiko Enyedi and Robin Campillo. Missing is Kaurismaki, but we know he's against all this fuzz and buzz, sigh.

Yes, list is impressive from the great-cinema point-of-view and there are many must-be-seen films for our cinematic enjoyment and pleasure. But we all know what the Academy likes and celebrates not always is what deserves the honor so in that sense, my hopes are not too high. Nevertheless by the end of December we will learn the nine (9) films in the shortlist from where the five nominations will come and perhaps this year AMPAS foreign-language film committee will surprise us with ONLY great choices.

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