After Venice Comp reveal, it was now up to the Giornate degli Autori sidebar (Venice Days) to unveil their line-up and if there was anyone wondering why Abel Ferrara was not mentioned on Tuesday… we now have our answer. Among a heavy LGBT friednly line-up, Artistic Director Gaia Furrer landed Ferrara’s Padre Pio – the Shia LaBeouf portrait on the Italian monk who became a star among the Catholic faithful. Ferrara has been obsessed with the subject also producing a docu.
Opening the comp section we find Lebanese filmmaker Wissam Charaf with Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous – the story of a Syrian refugee and an Ethiopian migrant worker who find love in Beirut. In the Out of Competition closer we find an item that we were only expecting for next year in Steve Buscemi‘s The Listener – this stars Tessa Thompson as a help call line volunteer.
Of the film items we were tracking we find Adila Bendimerad & Damien Ounouri‘s The Last Queen and Berlinale Talents lab attendee Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean starring Rosy McEwen. Prada-commissioned Miu Miu Women’s Tales will promote two filmmaker who need to introduction in Carla Simón (Alcarrás) and Janicza Bravo (Zola).
The 18th edition of Venice Days will run concurrently with the Venice Film Festival from Aug. 31 Sept. 10. Here is the entire line-up:
IN COMPETITION
“Bentu,” Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
“Ordinary Failures,” Cristina Grosan (Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia)
“Blue Jean,” Georgia Oakley (U.K.)
“Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous,” Wissam Charaf (France, Italy, Lebanon) — Opening Film
“The Last Queen,” Adila Bendimerad, Damien Ounouri (Algeria, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Taiwan)
“The Damned Don’t Cry,” (Working Title), Fyzal Boulifa (France, Belgium, Morocco)
“Wolf And Dog,” Cláudia Varejão (Portugal, France)
“Padre Pio,” Abel Ferrara (Italy, Germany. U.K.)
“Stonewalling,” Huang Ji, Otsuka Ryuji (Japan)
“The Maiden,” Graham Foy (Canada, U.S.)
OUT OF COMPETITION –– SPECIAL EVENTS
“Olimpia’s Way,” Corrado Ceron (Italy)
“Alone,” Jafar Najafi (Iran)
“We’re Here to Try,” Greta De Lazzaris, Jacopo Quadri (Italy)
“Casa Susanna,” Sebastien Lifshitz (Italy)
“March on Rome,” Mark Cousins (Italy)
“The Listener,” Steve Buscemi (U.S.) — Closing Film
NOTTI VENEZIANE (Venetian Nights)
“Land of Upright People,” Christian Carmosino Mereu (Italy)
“Kristos, The Last Child,” Giulia Amati (Italy)
“The Crown Shyness,” Valentina Bertani (Italy)
“Las Leonas,” Isabel Achával, Chiara Biondi (Italy)
“Le Favolose,” Roberta Torre (Italy)
“Pablo From Neanderthal,” Antonello Matarazzo (Italy)
“Se Fate I Bravi,” Stefano Collizzoli, Daniele Gaglianone (Italy)
“The Bone Breakers,” Vincenzo Pirrotta (Italy)
“An Invisible Enemy,” Riccardo Campagna, Federico Savonitto (Italy)
WOMEN’S TALES PROJECT (shorts), in collaboration with Prada’s Miu Miu Label
“Carta a Mi Madre Para Mi Hijo,” Carla Simon (Italy)
“House Comes With a Bird,” Janicza Bravo (Italy)
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).
