Confirmed: Akin, Denis, Moore, Solondz, van Dormael and Hillcoat Heading to Venice

Can’t say there are many surprises with today’s list, we discussed possible spots for Jacques Rivette, Michael Moore, Werner Herzog, Michele Placido, Todd Solondz, Jaco van Dormael, Patrice Chereau, Fatih Akin, Claire Denis and John Hillcoat’s The Road (yes, there is a Santa Clause) beforehand. No disrespect, but I’m surprised that George Romero’s Survival of the Dead receives a competition slot.

At first glance, what I notice are the number of works from China and Hong Kong, India and a pair from Egypt. We see where the whole 3D appreciation thing is leading towards (they announced a yearly 3D award would be given out at the festival – regardless if the film was even at the festival) and perhaps its not milan, but it makes sense that American fashion designer Tom Ford to preem his directorial debut A Single Man in Italy. One more inclusion that I’m pleased to see, is Horizons’ section is Alex Cox’s Repo Chick (a follow up to his classic at least in theme) and we receive new docs from: Abel Ferrara (Napoli Napoli Napoli) and Oliver Stone (South of the Border) and Prove per una tragedia Siciliana by Roman Paska and Romance & Cigarettes‘ director John Turturro as a non comp selection. Here’s the complete announcement:

66TH ANNUAL VENICE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP
COMPETITION
“36 vues du Pic Saint Loup,” Jacques Rivette (France)
“Accident,” Cheang Pou-Soi (China-Hong Kong)
“Baaria,” Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy) – Opening Film
“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” Werner Herzog (U.S.)
“Between Two Worlds,” Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka)
“Capitalism: A Love Story,” Michael Moore (U.S.)
“La Doppia Ora,” Giuseppe Capotondi (Italy)
“Il Grande Sogno,” Michele Placido (Italy)
“Lebanon,” Samuel Maoz (Israel)
“Life During Wartime,” Todd Solondz (U.S.)
“Lo Spazio Bianco,” Francesca Comencini (Italy)
“Lourdes,” Jessica Hausner (Austria)
“Mr. Nobody,” Jaco van Dormael (France)
“Persecution,” Patrice Chereau (France)
“Prince of Tears,” Yonfan (Hong Kong)
“The Road,” John Hillcoat (U.S.)
“A Single Man,” Tom Ford (U.S.)
“Soul Kitchen,” Fatih Akin (Germany)
“Survival of the Dead,” George Romero (U.S.)
“Tetsuo The Bullet Man,” Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
“The Traveller,” Ahmed Maher (Egypt)
“White Material,” Claire Denis (France)
“Women Without Men,” Shirin Neshat (Germany)

OUT OF COMPETITION
“Anni Luce,” Francesco Maselli (Italy)
“Chengdu, I Love You,” Fruit Chan, Cui Jian (China) – Closing Film
“The Hole,” Joe Dante (U.S.)
“The Informant!,” Steven Soderbergh (U.S.)
“The Men Who Stare at Goats,” Grant Heslov (U.S.)
“Napoli Napoli Napoli,” Abel Ferrara (Italy)
“L’oro di Cuba,” Giuliano Montaldo (Italy)
“Prove per una tragedia Siciliana,” John Turturro, Roman Paska (Italy)
“REC 2,” Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza (Spain)
“Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story,” Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt)
“South of the Border,” Oliver Stone (U.S.)
“Yona Yona Penguin,” Rintaro (Japan)

MIDNIGHT MOVIES
“Gulaal,” Anurag Kashyap (India)
“Dev D,” Anurag Kashyap (India)
“Brooklyn’s Finest,” Antoine Fuqua (U.S.)
“Delhi-6,” Rakeysh Omprakash (India)
“Valhalla Rising,” Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark)

GOLDEN LION FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2009: John Lasseter & the Disney/Pixar Directors
“Toy Story 3-D” (New Version), John Lasseter (U.S.)
“Toy Story 2-D” (New Version), John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Ash Brannon (U.S.)

HORIZONS
“Francesca,” Bobby Paunescu (Romania) – Opening Film
“One-Zero,” Kamla Abou Zekri (Egypt)
“Buried Secrets,” Raja Amari (Tunisia)
“Tender Parasites,” Christian Becker and Oliver Schwabe (Germany)
“Adrift,” Bui Thac Chuyen (Vietnam)
“Crush,” Petr Buslov, Aleksei German Jr., Borisd Khlebnikov, Kirill Serebrennikov, Ivan Vrypayev (Russia)
“Repo Chick,” Alex Cox (U.S.)
“Engkwentro,” Pepe Diokno (Philippines)
“The Man’s Woman and Other Stories,” Amit Dutta (India)
“Paraiso,” Hector Galvez (Peru)
“Io sono l’amore,” Luca Guadagnino (Italy)
“Cow,” Guan Hu (China)
“Judge,” Liu Jie (China)
“Pepperminta,” Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland)
“Tris di donne e abiti nunziali,” Martina Gedeck (Italy)
“Insolacao,” Daniela Thomas and Felipe Hirsch (Brazil)
“1428,” Du Haibin (China)
“I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You,” Marcelo Gomes and Karim Ainouz (Brazil)
“Once Upon a Time Proletarian: 12 Tales of a Country,” Guo Xiaolu (China)
“Villalobos,” Romuald Karmakar (Germany)
“Il colore delle parole,” Marco Simon Puccioni (Italy)
“The One All Alone,” Frank Scheffer (The Netherlands)
“Toto,” Peter Schreiner (Austria)

HORIZONS EVENTS
PROGRAM 1
“The Death of Pentheus,” Philip Haas (U.S.)
“Faces of Soul,” Gina Kim (U.S.)
“La Boheme,” Werner Herzog (U.K.)
“Mudanza,” Pere Portabella (Spain)

PROGRAM 2
“Deserto Rosa – Luigi Ghirri,” Elisabetta Sgarbi (Italy)
“Reading Book of Blockade,” Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)
“Armando Testa – Povero ma moderno,” Pappi Corsicato
“La Danse – Le Ballet de l’Opera de Paris,” Fredrick Wiseman (U.S.) (In collaboration with Dance Biennale)
“Hugo en Afrique,” Stefano Knuchel (Switzerland)
“Via della Croce,” Serena Nono (Italy)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO – (NEW ITALIAN CINEMA TRENDS SIDEBAR)
“Poeti,” Toni D’Angelo
“Negli occhi,” Francesco del Grosso
“Il compleanno,” Daniele Anzellotti, Marco Filiberti
“Dieci Inverni,” Valerio Mieli
“Cosmonauta,” Susanna Nicchiarelli
“Hollywood sul Tevere,” Marco Spagnoli
“Il Piccolo,” Maurizio Zaccaro

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO EVENTS
“Giuseppe De Santis,” Carlo Lizzani

CONTROCAMPO/RETROSPECTIVE EVENTS
“Lola,” Giulio Questi
“Hotel Courbet,” Tinto Brass