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Venice International Film Festival

Statistics of the first Venice Production Bridge

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screen-shot-2016-09-19-at-2-03-24-pmThe first Venice Production Bridge – the Festival film market’s evolution into a specialized meeting point for completing projects – was held from September 1-5, 2016 at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. The VPB re-proposed and expanded on the Venice Gap-Financing Market and Final Cut in Venice programs, making the most of the experience of the Biennale College – Cinema.
This first edition of the Venice Production Bridge registered 1,767 accreditations, including 758 Industry Gold accreditations (a 35% increase in this latter figure, compared to 2015).
Here are the final figures of the 2016 VENICE PRODUCTION BRIDGE:
 
·  GAP FINANCING MARKET (2-4 September): 448 pre-organized meetings were held for the 25 Fiction and Documentary projects, and 158 meetings for the 15 Virtual Reality/TV series/Web series. Fifty meetings were added directly on-site for all 40 projects.  Thus, a total of 606 encounters were re-organized, for a grand total of 656 meetings for the 40 projects over the two and a half days.
·  BOOK ADAPTATION RIGHTS AREA (2-3 September): over 250 meetings were organized over the two days for the 15 editors.
·  FINAL CUT IN VENICE (3-5 September): of the 6 projects presented in the selection, 4 films won the Final Cut prizes (***)
 
·  EUROPEAN FILM FORUM OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Film Forum was held on September 3-4, with the participation of the European Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, Günther Oettinger, and the Director-General of DG Connect, Roberto Viola. The European Film Forum organized two workshops, on access to financing for the creative industries and on the future of cinemas.
 
· 6 STANDS OPERATED IN THE VPB EXHIBIT AREAS:  
INCAA
EURIMAGES
REGIONE UMBRIA
REGIONE FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA
CHINA FILM PROMOTION
SHANGAI FIL FESTIVAL
 
· PANELS AND EVENTS ORGANIZED AT THE MEETING SPACE  
A total of 22, including 17 international panels and events
 
· VPB MARKET SCREENINGS ORGANIZED
A total of 35, including 13 Private Screenings
· DIGITAL VIDEO LIBRARY:
51 films were available for viewing at the Digital Video Library, including:
6 films from Out of Competition, 18 from Orizzonti, 7 from Venice Classics, 4 from Biennale College Cinema, 2 from Cinema nel Giardino, 5 from SIC, 6 from Venice Days, 1 from Final Cut
 
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(***) FINAL CUT Awards:
 
FELICITY / FÉLICITÉ  by Alain Gomis (France/Senegal/Belgium) Producer: Arnaud Dommerc received the following prizes:
–  Sub-Ti Ltd. (London) will offer up to € 7,000 to make a DCP master and Italian or English subtitles;
–  Sub-Ti Access Srl (Turin) will offer up to € 7,000 for a version accessible to people with sensorial disabilities;
–  Rai Cinema will offer € 5,000 to purchase the broadcasting rights for two years;
–  Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) will offer € 5,000 to reimburse costs incurred during post-production.
 
THE WOUND / ISIKO by John Trengove (South Africa/Germany/France/Holland) Producer: Elias Ribeiro received the following prizes:
–  Mactari Mixing Auditorium (Paris) will offer up to € 15,000 to make the sound mix;
–  Titra Film (Paris) will offer up to € 10,000 for digital color correction, and to make a DCP master and French or English subtitles.
GHOST HUNTING / ISTIYAD ASHBA by Raed Andoni (Palestine/France/Switzerland) Producer: Palmyre Badinie received the following prizes:
–  Laser Film (Rome) will offer € 15,000 for the color correction of a feature film, totaling up to 50 work hours (including technician);
–  The Festival International du Film d’Amiens will participate in the cost of making a DCP.
OBSCURE / OTMAH by Soudade Kaadan (Syria/Lebanon) Producer: Salma Kaf received the following prizes:
–  MAD Solutions will offer marketing, advertising and distribution in the Arab world;
–  The Festival International de Films de Fribourg will participate in the cost of making a DCP.
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(Source:www.labiennale.org)
Venice International Film Festival

5th edition of Biennale’s Sala Web at the 73rd Venice Film Festival

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Sala Web line-up from 2 to 9 September

18 feature films will be available online worldwide

Screen Shot 2016-08-21 at 4.48.06 PMLeading the online screening experience additionally to its regular programming, the Venice Film Festival continues exploring the international audience beyond the traditional theatres. For a new edition, the Venice Sala Web will serve as the meeting point for film lovers worldwide, who will have the possibility to watch world premieres and follow the Biennale buzz on www.festivalscope.com/venicesalaweb2016. Only 400 tickets will be available for each film.
In addition to titles from the Orizzonti section and from Biennale College, the Venice Sala Web will expand for the first time to selected films from other sections, like THE ORCHID SELLER by 2015 Golden Lion winner Lorenzo Vigas. Reknown directors like Wang Bing from China and Parviz Shahbazi from Iran will join a line-up with the new works by Tim Sutton, Gastón Solnicki, Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, whose previous film THE FIFTH SEASON screened in Competition at the Festival, winning the Young Cinema Award.
These 2016 world premieres will serve as a follow-up for a previous edition that saw the world premieres of multi-awarded films like Gabriel Mascaro’s NEON BULL and Anita Rocha da Silveira’s KILL ME PLEASE.
Four titles supported by the Biennale College will also be part of the Venice Sala Web line-up. The Biennale College is a higher education workshop for the development and production of micro-budget feature length films, and a launching platform for new talent, like Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia with H. in 2014 and Anna Rose Holmer with THE FITS in 2015.
The 5th edition of this innovative project will be not only an opportunity for film lovers, but also for directors to find synergies with an audience of cinephiles, eager for new artistic surprises. That is how La Biennale sees it, in words of its director Alberto Barbera:alberto-barbera-594x350 “We believe film festivals can always find new ways to reach international audiences, and that is specially true thanks to the new technologies. Sala Web is a key example of it, as it allows filmmakers find their public beyond all frontiers, something impossible only a few years ago. As the first film festival in history, the Venice Film Festival needs to be part of this new story that is being told.”
Sala Web screenings will be hosted on a secure site operated by Festival Scope (www.festivalscope.com) on behalf of the Venice Film Festival. Festival Scope is the online platform where international film lovers can discover innovative new films from home, through exclusive events in partnership with the most prominent film festivals in the world.
Digital tickets for Sala Web screenings are on sale on Festival Scope. Users may register to buy tickets for the online screenings with all tickets priced at 4€ or a Festival Pass (2€ per film from 5 films). Once they have purchased a ticket for a chosen title, users will be able to screen the film once during a 10 day period beginning at 9pm (Venice time, GMT+2) on the day of the film’s official premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
2016 Venice Sala Web line-up

Orizzonti Competition
THE EREMITES (DIE EINSIEDLER), by Ronny Trocker – from 2 Sept.
Germany, Austria, 110′

HOME, by Fien Troch – from 3 Sept.
Belgium, 103′

KING OF THE BELGIANS, by Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth – from 3 Sept.
Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, 94′

I WAS A DREAMER (IL PIÙ GRANDE SOGNO), by Michele Vannucci – from 4 Sept.
Italy, 97′

MAUDITE POUTINE, by Karl Lemieux – from 5 Sept.
Canada, 91′

DARK NIGHT (Orizzonti – Special Screening Out of Competition), by Tim Sutton – from 6 Sept.
USA, 85′

KÉKSZAKÁLLÚ, by Gastón Solnicki – from 7 Sept.
Argentina, 72′

LIBERA NOS (LIBERAMI), by Federica Di Giacomo – from 7 Sept.
Italy, France, 89′

BIG BIG WORLD (KOCA DÜNYA), by Reha Erdem – from 8 Sept.
Turkey, 100′

MALARIA, by Parviz Shahbazi – from 9 Sept.
Iran, 90′

BITTER MONEY (KU QIAN), by Wang Bing – from 9 Sept.
Hong Kong, France, 150′
 

Out of Competition
OUR WAR, by Bruno Chiaravalloti, Claudio Jampaglia, Benedetta Argentieri – from 9 Sept.
Italy, USA, 69’

Biennale College – Cinema
EARS (ORECCHIE), by Alessandro Aronadio – from 1 Sept.
Italy, 90’

HOTEL SALVATION (MUKTI BHAWAN), by Shubhashish Bhutiani – from 2 Sept.
India, 103’

THE SOLITUDE (LA SOLEDAD), by Jorge Thielen Armand – from 3 Sept.
Venezuela, 89’

ONE SISTER (UNA HERMANA), by Sofia Brockenshire, Verena Kuri – from 4 Sept.
Argentina, 68’

Cinema nel Giardino
FRANCA: CHAOS AND CREATION, by Francesco Carrozzini – from 2 Sept.
Italy, USA, 80’


Out of Competition – Special Screenings
THE ORCHID SELLER (EL VENDEDOR DE ORQUIDEAS), by Lorenzo Vigas – from 8 Sept.
Venezuela, Mexico, 75’
(Source:www.labiennale.org)
Venice International Film Festival

Biennale College – Cinema

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The 73rd Venice Film Festival will screen the four feature films selected, developed and produced at Biennale College – Cinema, a laboratory for advanced training dedicated to the production of low cost films. The laboratory was created by the Biennale di Venezia in 2012 and is open to young filmmakers from all over the world. The four films are: Orecchie, directed by Alessandro Aronadio and produced by Costanza Coldagelli;  La Soledad, directed by Jorge Thielen Armand and produced by Adriana Herrera  and Manon Ardisson; Una Hermana – One Sister, directed by Sofia Brockenshire and produced by Verena Kuri; and Mukti Bhawan, directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani and produced by Sanjay Bhutiani.

 

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The Biennale also admitted, as a one-time exception, the top-ranked Italian project, considering its particular interest and quality. The goal is to present the 4 feature-length films, debut or second works, at the coming 73rd Venice International Film Festival (31 August – 10 September 2016), directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.
The 8 projects that will not continue to the second workshop will in any case enjoy an online follow-up and will be given various opportunities to find co-producers in collaboration with IFP, TorinoFilmLab and others.
Biennale College – Cinema enjoys the support of the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities – General Direction Cinema, and the Regione del Veneto. For the fourth year in a row, it will rely on the academic collaboration of the IFP in New York and the TorinoFilmLab, and will continue its collaboration with the Busan International Film Festival. The Director is Alberto Barbera, the Head of Programme is Savina Neirotti.
The call for participation in the fifth edition (2016-2017) of the Biennale College – Cinema recently closed on July 1st. Once again participants registered from all over the world. In the coming weeks a selection process will take place to choose the next 12 projects and teams who will be invited to the first workshop in October, the first step in a development process that will end at the 2017 Venice Film Festival with the screening of three new low-cost films. The selection of the 12 projects will be announced at a Biennale College – Cinema press conference that will take place during the Venice Festival.
So far 9 feature-length films have been made during the first (2012/2013), second (2013/2014) and third (2014/2015) editions of the Biennale College – Cinema, and screened as world premieres respectively at the 70th Venice International Film Festival 2013, at the 71st Venice International Film Festival 2014, and at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival 2015 and later at other festivals, winning many awards and receiving excellent critical reviews.
The three feature-length films made during the first edition of the Biennale College – Cinema (2012-2013)
• Memphis by Tim Sutton (director, Usa), John Baker (producer, Usa).
• Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (director, Thailand), Aditya Assarat (producer, Thailand).
• Yuri Esposito by Alessio Fava (director, Italy), Max Chicco (producer, Italy).
The three feature-length films made during the second edition of the Biennale College – Cinema (2013-2014)
• Blood Cells by Joseph Bull (director, Great Britain), Luke Seomore (director, Great Britain), Ben Young and Samm Haillay (producers, Great Britain).
• H. by Rania Attieh (director, Lebanon), Daniel Garcia (director, Usa), Shruti Rya Ganguly (producer, India), Pierce Varous (producer, Usa).
• Short Skin by Duccio Chiarini (director, Italy), Babak Jalali (producer, Iran/ Great Britain).
The three feature-length films made during the third edition of the Biennale College – Cinema (2014-2015)
• Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj (director, Poland), Magdalena Kaminska and Agata Szymanska (producers, Poland).
• Blanka by Kohki Hasei (director, Japan), Flaminio Zadra (producer, Italy).
• The Fits by Anna Rose Holmer (director, Usa), Lisa Kjerulff (producer, Usa).

Venice International Film Festival

Paolo Baratta Introduces 73rd Venice Film Festival

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President of La Biennale di Venezia Paolo Barrata
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.
Paolo Baratta
President of La Biennale di Venezia