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.
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).
