The Biennale di Venezia announces a new title in the lineup of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival (August 31st – September 10th), presented in collaboration with the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days.
It is the documentary film by Enrico Caria The Man Who Didn’t Change History, freely inspired by the diaries of archaeologist and art historian Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, “Il viaggio del Fuehrer in Italia”, and made with the images from the archives of Istituto Luce – Cinecittà.
“Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli is a renowned figure among Italian art historians and archaeologists,” declared Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival. “A lesser-known fact is that, forced to serve as a guide for Hitler and Mussolini during the Nazi leader’s trip to Italy, he considered the idea of organizing an assassination attempt to get rid of the two unwelcome dictators. Caria reconstructs the incredible affair with irony and documentary precision, raising questions that continue to be relevant today”.
“I am thankful to Alberto Barbera,” says Giorgio Gosetti, director of the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days, “for having agreed to let us join him in an event that not only highlights Enrico Caria’s vivid talent, but opens up a chapter in Italian history that has much to teach our present time. The protection of Italy’s historical legacy, the power of beauty versus the brutality of dictatorship, the figure of a great intellectual such as archaeologist Bianchi Bandinelli, and the paradoxical affair with Mussolini and Hitler, are all elements of cultural and political consideration to which this fictional documentary (rigorous, however, in its use of sources) gives extraordinary relevance”.
Enrico Caria is an Italian director, writer and journalist. Born in Rome (1957), he has worked as a cartoonist and journalist for “Paese Sera”, “Cuore” “Repubblica”, “L’Unità”, “Il Mattino”, “Il Fatto quotidiano”, “Le Iene”. He is a screenwriter for radio, television and cinema. He has directed dark or satirical comedies (17, ovvero: l’incredibile e triste storia del cinico Rudy Caino, Carogne, Blek Giek, L’era legale) and the docu-film Vedi Napoli e poi muori. He has published two books “Bandidos” (for Feltrinelli) and “L’uomo che cambiava idee” (for Rizzoli).
Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (Siena, 1900 – Rome, 1975), an archaeologist and art historian, contributed significantly to renewing the study of archaeology and ancient art in Italy, in tune with the European culture of his time. In the 1930s he taught archaeology at the universities of Cagliari, Pisa, Groningen (Holland) and Florence. In 1935 he founded the “Critica d’arte” review (1935) with Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti. In 1938 he was commissioned by the Ministry of Popular Culture to serve as a guide for Adolf Hitler during his visit to Rome and Florence. He later accepted to hold lectures in Germany and to guide Hermann Goering during his visit to Rome. The following year he refused the offer to direct the Italian Archaeological School in Athens, which had just dismissed its Jewish director Alessandro Della Seta, and in 1942 refused the offer by the Ministry to teach the “History of Italian Civilization” in Berlin. He then demonstrated his definitive opposition to Fascism by joining the clandestine liberal-socialist movement (which later developed into the Partito d’Azione). After the war and through 1964, he taught at the University of Rome. He founded the magazine “Società” (1947). His many publications include: Storicità dell’arte classica (1943), Archeologia e cultura (1961), Dal diario di un borghese (1962), Rome: The Center of Power, 500 B.C. to A.D. 200 (1969), Rome: The Late Empire, Roman Art A.D. 200–400 (1970).
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will be held on the Lido from August 31st to September 10th 2016, directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.
The selection is complete for the members of the three international Juries (Venezia 73, Orizzonti, “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for Best Debut Film) of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival (31 August-10 September 2016), directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta.
Venezia 73
The personalities convened as members of the Jury for the Venezia 73 Competition, in addition to the president, director Sam Mendes, are:
American artist, singer, director and writer Laurie Anderson, one of the most important and courageous exponents of the creative avant-garde in America today. She is renowned for her vocal and multimedia performances, which cross-pollinate art, theatre and experimental music. In 2015 she directed Heart of a Dog, screenedin Competition in Venice, which won unanimous critical acclaim around the world.
British actress Gemma Arterton moved into the limelight in 2008 when she appeared as a Bond Girl in the film Quantum of Solace by Marc Forster. In 2009 she won the Empire Award for Best Newcomer. The star of Tamara Drewe (2010) by Stephen Frears and of Byzantium (2012) by Neil Jordan, she has also appeared in major productions such as Prince of Persia (2010) by Mike Newell.
the Italian magistrate, writer, playwright and screenwriter Giancarlo De Cataldo,author of the best-selling novel Romanzo criminale (2002) which inspired the film by Michele Placido (2005) and the television series by Stefano Sollima (2008). He is a two-time winner of the David di Donatello for the screenplays of Romanzo criminale, and of Noi credevamo (2010) by Mario Martone (which also won a Nastro d’argento for the screenplay).
German actress Nina Hoss, who works in both film and the theatre, won the Silver Bear as Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007 with Yella (2007) by Christian Petzold, a director with whom she has worked many times: in Jerichow (2008), screened in Competition in Venice, and in the recent Phoenix (2014), a performance for which she won many important international awards.
French actress Chiara Mastroianni, a famous star of European auteur films, who acted alongside her mother Catherine Deneuve at a very young age in Ma maison préférée by André Téchiné (1993, nominated at the César awards for Most Promising Actress). In 2010 she won the Excellence Award at the Locarno Film Festival. In 2014 she participated in the Venice International Film Festival with two films in Competition, Trois Coeurs by Benoît Jacquot and La Rançon de la gloire by Xavier Beauvois.
American director Joshua Oppenheimer, who attracted international attention with his two documentaries, both nominated for an Oscar, The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014), the latter in Competition at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize. Since then, the film has won 70 awards, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.
Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas, who won the Golden Lion for Best Film at last year’s Venice International Film Festival with his debut film Desde allà, the first Latin-American director to win the most important prize on the Lido. The film was later screened at many international festivals and won many awards.
Chinese actress, director and singer Zhao Wei, who rose to international fame in the films of Stephen Chow, Ann Hui, He Ping, John Woo and Johnnie To. For her role in Dearest (2014) by Peter Chan, screened Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival, she won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In 2013 she made her debut as a director with So Young, the highest-grossing film ever in China for a female director.
The Jury will award the following official prizes to the feature films in Competition:
Golden Lion for Best Film; Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize; Silver Lion for Best Director; Coppa Volpi for Best Actor; Coppa Volpi for Best Actress; “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress; Award for Best Screenplay; and the SpecialJury Prize.
Orizzonti
The members of the international Jury of the Orizzonti section, in addition to its president, French director Robert Guédiguian, are:
American film critic and historian Jim Hoberman, long the “senior critic” of the “Village Voice” in New York, who writes a column in “The New York Times”, and is one of the most influential voices in international film criticism. A teacher and exhibition curator, he has been a member of international juries and of the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. He has written thirteen books on cinema.
Egyptian actress Nelly Karim, who won the Best Actress Award at the Cairo International Film Festival in 2004 for My Soulmate by Khaled Youssef. In 2012, her performance in Cairo 678 by Mohamed Diab, won her the Best Actress Award at the Arab Film Festival. She took part in the penultimate film by Youssef Chahine, Alexandria…New York (2004). Nelly Karim was the main actress of Clash (2016) by Mohamed Diab, which was in Cannes in Official Competition in Un Certain Regard.
Italian actress Valentina Lodovini, one of the most important actresses in Italian cinema in recent years, starting with her role as the star of La giusta distanza (2007) by Carlo Mazzacurati. Winner of the David di Donatello in 2010 for Benvenuti al Sud by Luca Miniero, in 2011 she starred in Cosedell’altro mondo by Francesco Patierno, presented at the Venice Film Festival.
The Korean actress and director Moon So-ri has set a milestone in Korean film history with her passionate acting in Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis which earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actress at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, for the first time as a Korean actress.
Spanish film critic and scholar José Maria (Chema) Prado, the long-standing director (since 1989) of the Filmoteca Española in Madrid. He has been a member of the jury at many international film festivals, including Cannes and Locarno, and has collaborated with the San Sebastian Festival. In 2015 he won the Premio Fénix por la Contribución a la Cultura Cinematográfica de Iberoamérica.
Indian director Chaitanya Tamhane, whose debut feature film, Court (2014), premiered at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won the Lion of the Future award and the Orizzonti award for Best film. Since then, the film has gone on to win 32 international awards, and it was India’s official entry to the Oscars. He has recently been selected for the Rolex Mentor-Protégé Arts Initiative under the mentorship of Alfonso Cuarón.
The Jury will award the following prizes, with no ex-aequo awards permitted:
Orizzonti Award for Best Film; Orizzonti Award for Best Director; Special Orizzonti Jury Prize; Orizzonti Award for Best Actor or Actress; Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay; Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film; Venice Short Film Nomination for the European Film Awards 2016.
“Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future
The members of the international Jury ofthe “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future, in addition to its president, Italian actor Kim Rossi Stuart, are:
Spanish producer Rosa Bosch, former Deputy Director of the London Film Festival/National Film Theatre. As a producer, she has worked with directors such as Wim Wenders, Guillermo Del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, and Gus Van Sant. In 2003 she became co-managing director of HBO Films in London. She now runs the Havana-based production company CubanStar, which has recently worked for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, House of Lies, Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz, and Chanel.
American actor and director Brady Corbet won the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and the Orizzonti Award for Best Director. Previously he had been one of America’s most interesting young actors, as the star, among others, of Mysterious Skin (2004) by Gregg Araki, presented at the Venice Film Festival.
Spanish actress Pilar López de Ayala, one of the most highly considered and beloved Iberian stars, won the Silver Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Goya Prize for her performance as Queen Juana de Castilla in Mad Love (2001) by Vicente Aranda. She was the star of The Strange Case of Angelica (2010) by Manoel de Oliveira, presented in the Un certain regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.
French film critic Serge Toubiana, one of the most important film scholars of his generation, critic for Cahiers du cinéma from 1974 to 2000 (and its director for many years), director of the Cinémathèque Française from 2003 through January 2016. He is the author of many books and documentaries. With Kent Jones, he co-authored the documentary Hitchcock Truffaut (2015).
The Jury will award, with no ex-aequo awards permitted, the Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film to one of the debut feature-length films selected from the various competition sections of the Venice Film Festival (Official Selection and Independent and Parallel Sidebars). It comes with a cash prize of 100,000 USD donated by Filmauro di Aurelio e Luigi De Laurentiis, to be divided equally between the director and the producer.
Biographies
Venezia73
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring- creative pioneers. As writer, director, visual artist and vocalist she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance The End of the Moon. In 2007 she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. In 2011 her exhibition of all new work titled Forty-Nine Days In the Bardo opened at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. That same year she was awarded with the Pratt Institute’s Honorary Legends Award. She has recently finished residencies at both CAP in UCLA in Los Angeles and EMPAC in Troy New York. In 2015 her film Heart of a Dog was chosen in Competition at the 2015 Venice and as an official selection of theToronto Film Festivals and her exhibition Habeas Corpus opened at the Park Avenue Armory to wide critical acclaim. Anderson lives in New York City.
Gemma Arterton
Beautiful English actress Gemma Arterton is well known for her stage and screen presence. After gaining an award for Best Supporting Actress for Kent, she gained a full scholarship to RADA where she took lead roles in productions such as An Ideal Husband, Titus Andronicus and The Beggar’s Opera. In 2008, Gemma starred as iconic Bond Girl Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, directed by Marc Forster. Her other film credits include Guy Ritchie’s gangster film RocknRolla. In 2010 she played the lead female role in Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time directed by Mike Newell. In 2012 she starred in the title role in Tamara Drewe directed by award-winning director Stephen Frears. In 2013, Gemma starred in four feature films; Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters by Tommy Wirkola, Song for Marion by Paul Andrew Williams, in Neil Jordan’s Byzantium and in the Brad Furman thriller Runner, Runner. September 2014 saw Gemma play the title lead in Gemma Bovery directed by Anne Fontaine and starring Fabrice Luchini. The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival.
Giancarlo De Cataldo
Giancarlo De Cataldo was born in Taranto but has lived in Rome since 1978, where he is a Judge for the Court of Assizes of Appeal. He is a writer, translator, playwright and screenwriter. He writes for the daily newspaper Repubblica and Espresso newsmagazine. His works include Romanzo criminale (Einaudi, Stile Libero, 2002) which inspired a film directed by Michele Placido and two television series for Sky directed by Stefano Sollima; Cocaina (Einaudi Stilelibero 2013, with Carlo Lucarelli and Gianrico Carofiglio) and Suburra (Einaudi, Stilelibero, 2013), written with Carlo Bonini, and adapted by Stefano Sollima for the eponymous film. His novels have been translated into French, Spanish, German, English, Dutch. With Mario Marton, he wrote the screenplay for Noi credevamo, presented in Competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2010. He won the David di Donatello for Best Screenplay twice (Romanzo Criminale and Noi credevamo), and the Nastro d’argento for Best Screenplay (Noi credevamo).
Nina Hoss
Known for her extensive career in both theatre and film, Nina Hoss won the Silver Bear at the 2007 Berlinale for her performance in Christian Petzold’s Yella and returned to the festival in 2011 as one of their jurors. A year later she collaborated with Petzold again in the multi-award winning film Barbara, a role for which she received international acclaim. In 2014 she returned to Schaubuehne Berlin where she worked with Thomas Ostermeier and was on screen in Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christian Petzold’s Phoenix, for which she was rewarded the Golden Space Needle as best actress at Seattle International Film Festival in 2015 and as well the Toronto film critics award in the same category. Recently she played in the US hit series Homeland. This year she worked under Volker Schlöndorff with Stellan Skarsgard in Return to Montauk. Nina Hoss lives in Berlin.
Chiara Mastroianni
Chiara Mastroianni is a French actress born in Paris in 1972. She was offered her first role in 1993 by André Techine in Ma saison préférée (a film that won her a nomination for a César award as Most Promising Actress. She then worked with Arnaud Desplechin in Comment je me suis disputé (ma vie sexuelle), followed by Xavier Beauvois in N’oublie pas que tu vas mourir (winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival), Raoul Ruiz in Trois vies et une seule mort (selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1996), Robert Altman in Prêt-à-porter”, Laetitia Masson in “À vendre, and Nowhere by Gregg Araki. She worked again with Raoul Ruiz in Le temps retrouvé (selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival), Manoel de Oliveira in La Lettre (a modern adaptation of La princesse de Clèves, and winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998); with Francesca Comencini in Zeno: Le parole di mio padre (selected for the Un certain regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001), Delphine Gleize in Carnages (selected for the Un certain regard section at the Cannes Film Festival); with Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi in Il est plus facile pour un chameau. In 2007, she worked with Arnaud Desplechin again in Un conte de Noël, selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival; with Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2007 and the César award for Best First Feature Film; with Christophe Honoré in Les chansons d’amour (selected for the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival), in Non ma fille tu n’iras pas danser (nominated for the César award for Best Actress, and for the Globe de crystal) and in Bien-Aimés, presented in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. In 2013, Chiara starred in Les salauds directed by Claire Denis, ( in the “un certain regard” section at Cannes) and in 2013 in Trois coeurs by Benoit Jacquot (presented in Competition at the Venice International Film Festival). She is currently starring in Good luck Algeria.
Joshua Oppenheimer
Born in 1974, USA, his debut feature film, The Act of Killing (2014 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary), was named Film of the Year in the 2013 by the Guardian and the Sight and Sound Film Poll, and won 72 international awards, including a European Film Award, a BAFTA, an Asia Pacific Screen Award, a Berlinale Audience Award. His second film, The Look of Silence (2016 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary), premiered at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won five awards, including the Grand Jury Prize, the international critics award (FIPRESCI Prize) and the European film critics award (FEDEORA Prize). Since then, The Look of Silence has received 70 international awards, including an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, an International Documentary Association Award for Best Documentary. In 2015, Joshua Oppenheimer received a MacArthur Fellowship.
Lorenzo Vigas
In 2015, the Venezuelan filmmaker Lorenzo Vigas, became the first Latin-American to receive the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, for his directorial debut Desde allá (From Afar). After graduating in biology in 1994, and while doing a master in molecular biology, he decided to move to New York and enroll in filmmaking workshops at New York University. Subsequently, he worked in Caracas directing the documentary TV series Expedición, produced by RCTV, and also directing institutional documentaries for the production company Cinesa. In 2004, he premiered at Cannes’s International Critics Week, his short film Los Elefantes Nunca Olvidan (Elephants never forget), the first part of the trilogy that delves into the father figure in Latin America. Currently, he is working in the last part of the trilogy, the feature film La caja, to be filmed in Mexico during 2017.
Zhao Wei
One of Asia’s most coveted actresses, director and singer, Zhao Wei burst into international limelight with Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer (2001), He Ping’s Warriors of Heaven and Heart (2004), John Woo’s Red Clift (2009) and Johnnie To’s Three (2016). She has also worked with filmmakers like Ann Hui, Zhang Yuan, Doze Niu and Wu’ersan. Her performance in Peter Chan’s Dearest (2014)- shown out of competition at 71st Venice Film Festival – won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015. In 2013, Zhao released her directorial debut So Young was a critical hit and commercial success. It set the record of the highest grossing film by a female director in China. She recently finished primary shooting for her second directorial feature.
Orizzonti
Jim Hoberman
J. Hoberman is a New York City-based author and cultural critic. He began reviewing films for The Village Voice in 1978, initially specializing in avant-garde cinema, and continued for 33 years, succeeding Andrew Sarris as senior film critic in 1988. Since leaving the Voice, Hoberman has written on art and cinema for Artforum, The New York Review of Books, and Film Comment, among other publications; he also has a regular column in The New York Times. He has lectured widely, and taught cinema history at the Cooper Union in New York, where he was the Gelb Professor of Humanities, as well as courses in cinema studies at New York University, Harvard University and Columbia University. He has served on juries at the Berlin, Jerusalem, Naples, and Rotterdam film festivals, as well as the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. Several of his essays were anthologized in the Library of America collection, American Movie Critics.
Nelly Karim
Born in Alexandria, from an Egyptian father and a Russian mother, Nelly Karim started out as a ballet dancer, trained at the Academy of Arts in Cairo, before she became a model and an actress. She has played in about 25 films and television series, including Youssef Chahine’s second to last film, Alexandria…New York (2004). She was awarded the Best My soulmate Actress prize at the Cairo International Film Festival for Khaled Youssef’s. She was one of the heroines in Mohamed Diab’s Cairo 678 (2012), and together with her partners on screen Bushra and Hajed El Sebai, she won the Jury Grand Prize at the 2011 Asian Pacific Screen Awards. For her role in Cairo 678 she has also received the Award for best actress at Arab Film Festival in 2012. Nelly Karim was the main actress of Clash (2016) by Mohamed Diab, which was in Cannes in Official Competition in Un Certain Regard.
Valentina Lodovini
Valentina Lodovini is an Italian actress. A student of Nicolaj Karpov, she earned her diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, and made her debut as an actress in 2006 in the film The Family Friend (L’Amico di famiglia) by Paolo Sorrentino. She has worked with Italian directors such as Carlo Mazzucurati, Francesca Comencini, Daniele Vicari and Marco Risi. Her commitment to independent cinema took her to the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 with the film Good Morning Heartache (Riprendimi); she also worked beside Shirley MacLaine and Malcolm McDowell in the television production Coco Chanel by Christian Duguay. In 2010 she starred in the comedy box-office hit Benvenuti al Sud and won the David di Donatello for her performance. In 2008 she won the Guglielmo Biraghi prize for her performance in the film The Right Distance (La giusta distanza).She participated in the Venice International Film Festival in 2011 in the Controcampo Italiano section as the star of the film Things from Another World (Cose dell’altro mondo) by Francesco Patierno.
Moon So-ri
Moon So-ri is a representative actress in the Korea’s movie circles. After debuted in Lee Chang-dong’s acclaimed movie Peppermint Candy in 1999, Moon has set a milestone in the Korean film history with her passionate acting in Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis which earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actor or Actress at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, for the first time as a Korean actress. Moon has been described as a towering presence in the domestic film domain which received such praises as ‘Not a single work of Moon has disappointed the public and critics.’ In addition to building an impressive filmography as an actress, Moon has turned into a movie director, actively pursuing her career in various areas of the film world.
Josè Maria (Chema) Prado
After earning his degree in interior architecture, and collaborating with specialized film magazines, he began to work for the Filmoteca Española as director of programming through 1987, the year in which he was appointed Deputy Director. In 1989 he was appointed Director of the Filmoteca, a position he would hold through 2016. From 1993 to 1999, he was a member of the executive committee of the International Federation of Film Archives. He was a consultant to the San Sebastian Film Festival, and has been a member of the jury in many film festivals, including Cannes, Sundance, Valladolid, Locarno, Los Angeles, Montpellier, Guadalajara, La Havana, Miami and Venice. He was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic in 1995, Gold Medalist of the Accademia Gallega dell’Audiovisivo in 2004, and was honoured with a medal for Civil Merit in 2011. Since 1993 he has dedicated himself to artistic photography, and regularly exhibits his work.
Chaitanya Tamhane
Born in Mumbai in 1987, Chaitanya Tamhane is an English literature graduate from Mithibai College of Arts. Six Strands (2010), his first fictional short film was screened at various international film festivals including Rotterdam International Film Festival, Clermont- Ferrand International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Slamdance, and many others. Chaitanya’s debut feature film, Court (2014), premiered at the 71st Venice Film Festival, where it won the Lion of the Future award and the Orizzonti award for Best film. Since then, the film has gone on to win 32 international awards at various prestigious film festivals as well as India’s National Award for Best Feature Film. It was India’s official entry to the Oscars. In 2016, Chaitanya was featured in Forbes Asia’s list of 300 young achievers under the age of 30. He has recently been selected for the Rolex Mentor-Protégé Arts Initiative under the mentorship of Alfonso Cuarón.
“Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future
Rosa Bosch
Deputy Director of the London Film Festival/National Film Theatre where she remained for 10 years, Rosa moved to the industry side as co-founder of the Mexican company Tequila Gang. During this time she was involved with Buena Vista Social Club by Wim Wenders, El Espinazo del Diablo (The Devil’s Backbone) by Guillermo del Toro, Lost in la Mancha by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, and Amores Perros by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. In 2003, she established and was Co-Managing Director of HBO Films in London, where she handled Elephant (double winner of the Palme d’Or and Best Director at Cannes) amongst others. Rosa is a member of the European Film Academy and BAFTA. She now runs the Havana-based production company CubanStar which develops new content and provides film services on the island, recently for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, House of Lies, Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz and Chanel.
Brady Corbet
Writer/Director/Actor Brady Corbet began his career at age eleven, acting in acclaimed films such as Thirteen (2003), Mysterious Skin (2004), Funny Games (2007), Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), Simon Killer (2012), Clouds Of Sils Maria (2014), and Melancholia (2011). Corbet’s television acting credits include 24, Law & Order and The King of Queens. He presented his writing and directorial debut, the short film Protect Me and You at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. The film was shot by legendary cinematographer Darius Khondji, and recognized for “Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking.” In 2015, Corbet made his feature directorial debut with the visionary film The Childhood of a Leader, which was lauded at the Venice Film Festival with the Orizzonti Best Director and Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future awards. He currently resides in New York City.
Pilar López de Ayala
One of the most valued and loved Spanish actresses, Pilar has participated in films that have enjoyed recognition in important film festivals with some of the most renowned independent directors on the international scene, such as José Luis Guerín (In the City of Sylvia), Golden Lion Nominated Venice Film Festival; Manoel de Oliveira (The Strange case of Angelica) Nominated Un Certain Regard Cannes Film Festival, and for which the Cahiers du Cinéma France valued Pilar´s role as one of the top ones of that year; or Raya Martin (Buenas Noches, España). Mad Love, by Vicente Aranda, led her to win the Silver Shell of San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Goya Award for Best Leading Actress for her performance as Queen Joanna of Castile. She has repeatedly been Goya Award nominated but has also earned numerous international awards, as the New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress in Obaba (Montxo Armendáriz), French Raimu de la Comédie Award New Actress in Comme les Autres (Vincent Garenq), or Best Actress Award Toulouse Film Festival in Hand in Globe (Josetxo San Mateo). Her recent works include Night Has Settled (Steve Clark), Jury Prize and Festival Prize Award Winner at the International Soho Film Festival.
Serge Toubiana
Born in Sousse in Tunisia in 1949, Serge Toubiana was a critic for the Cahiers du Cinema from 1974 to 2000, during which the magazine reached the height of its circulation. From 1993 to 1995 he was a General Delegate for the Premier siècle du cinéma association, the purpose of which was to organize the Centennial of the birth of Cinema in France. From 2003 to 2016 he was director of the Cinémathèque française, and from 2014 to 2015 he was president of the Commission d’avance sur recettes at the Centre National du Cinéma. He is the author and co-author of many books on the history of cinema and on illustrious exponents of French cinema and others. His many works include the documentary François Truffaut, Portraits volés (with Michel Pascal, 1993), the biography François Truffaut (Gallimard, 1996, with Antoine de Baecque), Amos Gitai, exils et territoires (Cahiers du Cinéma, 1999), Isabelle Huppert, Une vie pour jouer (MK2 TV/Arte, 2001), the series of 10 documentaries Chaplin aujourd’hui (MK2 TV, 2003).
La Biennale di Venezia will pay a Special Tribute to U.S. producer Chris Meledandri, the Academy Award®-nominated founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of the field of animated films.
Meledandri will be presented on Monday, September 5th 2016, at 3 pm, at the Sala Giardino in the Lido, during the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. In addition to receiving this prestigious tribute, Meledandri will participate in an exclusive festival “In Conversation” event, culminating in a presentation of footage from the forthcoming Illumination Entertainment movie SING (2017).
Here’s a peak at the film’s Official Trailer:
The tribute will begin with the Italian Public Premiere of Illumination Entertainment’s THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (2016) at the Sala Giardino on September 4th at 9:00 pm.
Here’s a look at the film’s Official Teaser Trailer:
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS opens in theaters in Italy on October 6, 2016.
Festival Director Alberto Barbera comments:
“Chris Meledandri has revolutionized our way of understanding and making animated film with his more than excellent achievements, both in terms of quality and box office, thanks to careful and skilfully-targeted investments. Under his leadership, Illumination Entertainment has grown into one of the most dynamic and innovative creative hubs in the world of animation in a matter of years. This tribute from the Festival wishes to spotlight the artist’s extraordinary contribution, leading to worldwide hits such as Despicable Me and Minions, both of which changed our relationship with cartoons forever”.
Chris Meledandri, the Academy Award®-nominated founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment, is responsible for the hugely successful Despicable Me, Ice Age and animated Dr. Seuss franchises, which have collectively grossed close to $6 billion worldwide. Meledandri has built Illumination Entertainment into one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of all-audience event films.
Illumination Entertainment, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, which includes Minions, the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time, as well as the Academy Award®-nominated film for Best Animated Feature Film Despicable Me 2. In all, Illumination Entertainment’s films, which also include Hop (2011) and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012), have grossed more than $3.5 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature some of the world’s most renowned talent.
Upcoming Illumination Entertainment films include Sing (2016), Despicable Me 3 (2017) and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2018).
Meledandri also oversees Illumination Entertainment’s creation of content for marketing campaigns, mobile platforms, consumer goods, social media and theme parks such as Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem in 3D at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, ensuring the same high level of quality he brings to his feature productions. The company’s first mobile game, “Despicable Me: Minion Rush,” has been downloaded more than 750 million times.
Prior to Illumination Entertainment, Meledandri was a senior executive at 20th Century Fox. He became the founding president of 20th Century Fox Animation, where he created original material with the birth of the Ice Age franchise and also shepherded existing brands into the feature space, including The Simpsons and the Dr. Seuss library (Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!).
Meledandri has received numerous awards for his work with Illumination Entertainment including the Producers Guild of America’s 2014 Visionary Award as well as being named to Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” list and by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the “most powerful people in entertainment” on The THR 100 list.
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS– For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. The Secret Life of Pets opens in theaters October 6th 2016.
SING – Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist—okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel—who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. In theaters January 26th 2017.
We won’t linger more than necessary over routine questions such as the usefulness of film festivals in the face of the ongoing changes in the demand and offering of works, how they are viewed, how they are produced, etc.
Our recognition of everything that is evolving around us and could influence this demand finds us primarily involved in adopting initiatives which can help address the changes.
All the while holding fast to a number of principles regarding our mission as a cultural institution and maintaining a number of organizational formulas. A certain stability in operating methods encourages rather than hinders the transit of innovations and the aggregation of extra initiatives.
As in other art forms, in film, too, great attention must be paid to the quality and the vitality of the works, above and beyond their genre.
Only through courageous choices and the ability to take risks can a “cultural” function be performed. We will be useful as long as we know how to be fairly unpredictable.
It is no paradox that, as long as we remain faithful to these principles and maintain this specificity, we will also be able to preserve and reinforce our ability to overcome strong international competition and attract quality productions which consider participation in our Festival a way to obtain added value for their commercial launch. The most recent editions of the Festival have shown this very clearly, and this year’s Festival in particular.
The three main innovations of this new phase are: the inauguration of a “new screening room” which is also a new section; increased commitment to the “Biennale College” (an instrument to foster film development from the initial project to the completed production, and whose results have already proven to be more than gratifying); the launch of the “Venice Production Bridge,” a new instrument which can lead to the complete financing of fully planned works.
These innovations mark both our receptiveness toward a greater range of works and genres, and the intensification of our contribution to those energies which conceive, construct and make films. These work commitments go well beyond the actual days of the Festival.
The hole has been covered over! To the municipal authorities, our gratitude for the promptness with which they dealt with the issue, once the knots created by controversy and dispute had been untangled. We finally have a new open-air space which allows us to redraw the map of the Citadel of Cinema; we can integrate traditional programs with new initiatives.
We will continue to oversee the decentralization of the festival’s films to other Italian cities, and of the Italian films to our cultural institutes abroad.
We thank everyone, from Alberto Barbera and his collaborators to everyone at the Biennale who helps organize the Festival and develop our program.
Our thanks to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism , the local authorities, our sponsors and the members of the press who, starting tomorrow, will work with and at the Festival. And to the city of Venice, whose many initiatives help foster greater hospitality and more heartfelt participation.
P.S. Yesterday marked the beginning of the Biennale-Theatre program, which will conclude on August 14th. Directed by Àlex Rigola, it represents a successful alliance between Festival and College: a unique formula which involves a great many young people (307 of them, from 22 countries), who attend works by maestros as spectators and also collaborate with them on specific projects, many of which are later performed in public.
P.P.S. A few days ago, the call was concluded for the selection of the 12 film projects which will participate at the Biennale College; 205 applications were submitted.
