Film Festivals

Venice 2017: Weiwei, Haigh, Maoz, Doueiri & Kechiche Compete for Golden Lion

Published on July 27, 2017

Despite the number of spoilers in TIFF announcements less than 48 hours back, the are some top filmmaker names and highly anticipated film items that finally got confirmed for a shot at the Golden Lion. The biggest surprise in the mentioned titles below is that Lucrecia Martel’s Zama is somehow not worthy of a comp slot. In the eyebrow raisers, Al Weiwei’s Human Flow is confirmed for a Telluride-Venice double stop alongside fellow docu item (and what will likely be Frederick Wiseman’s last) Ex Libris – New York Public Library. In the best of lido frontrunners there is Golden Lion winner (2009’s Lebanon) Samuel Maoz measures up with Foxtrot against Abdellatif Kechiche’s first of a two parter in Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno. Lebanese-born Ziad Doueiri finds a premiere spot for his latest in L’insulte, while Andrew Haigh’s Lean On Pete could be the American film to watch out for in a section that is dominated by American, French, Asian and Italian offerings.

In the out of comp section, it’s nice to see James Toback coming out of the woods with The Private Life Of A Modern Woman, andS. Craig Zahler will likely have a badassery hit with Brawl In Cell Block 99, while the Orizzonti section gives us the latest from Leviathan pairing Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel with Caniba and continuing with select American film curiosities we have the Mulleavy sisters debut film with Dunst in Woodshock, Chris Smith finally returns behind the camera with Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond: The Story Of Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman And Tony Clifton. We’re going to be busy covering all these films in Venice and Toronto. Here is the complete selection.

COMPETITION
Downsizing, Alexander Payne (opening film)
Human Flow, Al Weiwei
mother!, Darren Aronofsky
Suburbicon, George Clooney
The Shape Of Water, Guillermo del Toro
L’insulte, Ziad Doueiri
La Villa, Robert Guediguian
Lean On Pete, Andrew Haigh
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, Abdellatif Kechiche
Sandome No Satsujin (The Third Murder), Hirokazu Koreeda
Custody (Jusqu’a La Garde), Xavier Legrand
Ammore e Malavita, Manetti Bros
Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh
Hannah, Andrea Pallaoro
Jia Nian Hua (Angels Wear White), Vivian Qu
Una Famiglia, Sebastiano Rosa
First Reformed, Paul Schrader
Sweet Country, Warwick Thornton
The Leisure Seeker, Paolo Virzi
Ex Libris – New York Public Library, Frederick Wiseman

OUT OF COMPETITION (FICTION)
Our Souls At Night, Ritesh Batra
Victoria And Abdul, Stephen Frears
La Melodie, Rachid Hami
Outrage Coda, Takeshi Kitano (closing film)
Loving Pablo, Fernando León de Aranoa
Il Signor Rotpeter, Antonietta de Lillo
Diva!, Francesco Patierno
Racer And The Jailbird, Michael R Roskam
Zama, Lucrecia Martel
Wormwood, Errol Morris
The Private Life Of A Modern Woman, James Toback
Brawl In Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler
Il Colore Nascosto Delle Cose, Silvio Soldini

OUT OF COMPETITION (NON-FICTION)
Cuba And The Cameraman, Jon Alpert
My Generation, David Batty
The Devil And Father Amorth, William Friedkin
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Stephen Nomura Schible
Piazza Vittorio, Abel Ferrara
This Is Congo, Daniel McCabe
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond: The Story Of Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman And Tony Clifton, Chris Smith
Happy Winter, Giovanni Totaro

SPECIAL EVENTS
Casa d’Altri, Gianni Amelio
Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D, John Landis
Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Jerry Kramer

ORIZZONTI
Disappearance, Ali Asgari
Especes Menacees, Gilles Bourdos
The Rape Of Recy Taylor, Nancy Buirski
Caniba, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel
Les Bienheureux, Sofia Djama
Marvin, Anne Fontaine
Invisible, Pablo Giorgelli
Brutti e Cattivi, Cosimo Gomez
The Cousin, Tzahi Grad
The Testament, Amichai Greenberg
No Date, No Signature, Vahid Jalilvand
Los Versos Del Olvido, Alireza Khatami
The Night I Swam, Damien Manivel, Igarashi Kohei
Nico, 1988, Susanna Nicchiarelli
Krieg, Rick Ostermann
West Of Sunshine, Jason Raftopoulos
Gatta Cenerentola, Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Dario Sansone
Under The Tree, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson
La Vita in Comune, Edoardo Winspeare

CINEMA IN THE GARDEN
Manuel – Dario Albertini
Controfigura – Rä Di Martino
Woodshock – Kate Mulleavy, Laura Mulleavy
Nato a Casal di Principe – Bruno Oliviero
Suburra – La serie – Michele Placido, Andre Molaili, Guiseppe Capotondi
Tuers – François Troukens, Jean-François Hensgens

SPECIAL DOCUMENTARY SCREENINGS
La Lunga Strada del Ritorno, Alessandro Blasetti
Barbiana ’65 La Lezione di Don Milani, Alessandro G. A. D’Alessandro
Lievito Madre, Le Ragazze del Secolo Scorso, Concita de Gregorio, Esmeralda Calabria

Related Topics:2017 Venice Film Festival, Abdellatif Kechiche, Abel Ferrara, Al Weiwei, Alessandro Rak, Alexander Payne, Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami, Amichai Greenberg, Ammore e Malavita, Andrea Pallaoro, Andrew Haigh, Anne Fontaine, Antonietta de Lillo, Brawl In Cell Block 99, Brutti e Cattivi, Caniba, Casa d’Altri, Chris Smith, Cosimo Gomez, Cuba And The Cameraman, Custody (Jusqu’a La Garde), Damien Manivel, Daniel McCabe, Dario Sansone, Darren Aronofsky, David Batty, Disappearance, Diva!, Downsizing, Edoardo Winspeare, Errol Morris, Especes Menacees, Ex Libris : New York Public Library, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, First Reformed, Foxtrot, Francesco Patierno, Frederick Wiseman, Gatta Cenerentola, George Clooney, Gianni Amelio, Gilles Bourdos, Giovanni Totaro, Guillermo Del Toro, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, Hannah, Happy Winter, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Human Flow, Igarashi Kohei, Il Colore Nascosto Delle Cose, Il Signor Rotpeter, Invisible, Ivan Cappiello, James Toback, Jason Raftopoulos, Jerry Kramer, Jia Nian Hua (Angels Wear White), Jim & Andy: the Great Beyond - the story of Jim Carrey & Andy Kaufman with a very special contractually obligated mention of Tony Clifton, John Landis, Jon Alpert, Krieg, La Melodie, La Villa, La Vita in Comune, Lean on Pete, Les Bienheureux, Los Versos Del Olvido, Loving Pablo, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Lucrecia Martel, L’insulte, Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Manetti Bros, Marino Guarnieri, Martin McDonagh, Marvin, Mektoub My Love: Canto Uno, Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D, Michael R. Roskam, Mother, My Generation, Nancy Buirski, Nico 1988, No Date No Signature, Our Souls at Night, Outrage Coda, Pablo Giorgelli, Paolo Virzí, Paul Schrader, Piazza Vittorio, Racer and the Jailbird, Rachid Hami, Rick Ostermann, Ritesh Batra, Robert Guédiguian, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Cod, S. Craig Zahler, Samuel Maoz, Sandome No Satsujin (The Third Murder), Sebastiano Rosa, Silvio Soldini, Sofia Djama, Stephen Frears, Stephen Nomura Schible, Suburbicon, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Sweet Country, Takeshi Kitano, The Cousin, The Devil And Father Amorth, The Leisure Seeker, The Night I Swam, The Private Life Of A Modern Woman, The Rape Of Recy Taylor, The Shape of Water, The Testament, This Is Congo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Tzahi Grad, Una Famiglia, Under The Tree, Vahid Jalilvand, Véréna Paravel, Victoria and Abdul, Vivian Qu, Warwick Thornton, West Of Sunshine, William Friedkin, Wormwood, Xavier Legrand, Zama, Ziad Doueiri

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).