“I only look forward to films by directors whose names I can’t pronounce.”
“Another important step for Venice toward becoming a festival for English-language films which may one day be impossible to distinguish from the Academy Awards.”
With all due respect to you personally and to the diversity of cinema that ALWAYS goes badly represented at festivals, that is a silly statement. Who do you suppose will receive his Oscar nomination first, Philippe Garrel or Abel Ferrara?
A great line-up…looking forward to the film versions of both CARNAGE & KILLER JOE (though I’d hoped D. Lynch might bring KJ to the screen)
@Matt: It’s not that silly. I didn’t say the current line-up equals that of the Academy Awards, my statement meant that with 85% English-language films, a complete abscence of Asian, Latin American and African cinemas as well as most important European cinemas (Germany, Russia, Spain, Scandinavia, etc.) among the official selections, though inclusions like George Clooney or Madonna we’re slowly getting there, not to mention Darren Aronofsky as Jury President of Venice ‘11. And I have to disagree with you on that the diversity of cinema always goes badly represented at festivals, one just has to take a look at the recently announced line-up of Locarno to find a far more balanced perspective that actually considers the varieties of world cinema and doesn’t sacrifice them for the sake of popularity as have Cannes and Venice been doing in recent years.
Matt, it’s not really about the Academy Awards (I’ll consider Marc’s “may one day” as a key part of his phrase, heh), it’s mostly the “recognition” one gets when his / her English-language film gets possible acclaim in any “major” festival that is, it’s evident how much promotion within the art-house world Skolimowski’s Essential Killing received and it completely overshadowed his…ummm, Polish recent attempt, Four Nights with Anna and personally, I find this media bias a fucking annoying occurrence, as if Gallo’s fame MUST overshadow the Polish cast of Four Nights thanks to the well-rounded reporters / critics of “high caliber” writing.
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Didn’t Venice begin as a festival for political propaganda? Isn’t that why the festival in Cannes started in the first place – as a response to Refenstahl’s Olympiad won the Gold Lion at Venice even though Grand Illusion was the overwhelming favorite? So why all of a sudden is Venice supposed to be this bastion for unadulterated, non-political cinema of the highest order? For God’s sake, Somewhere won last year! That should say enough, shouldn’t it?
“Locarno to find a far more balanced perspective that actually considers the varieties of world cinema and doesn’t sacrifice them for the sake of popularity as have Cannes and Venice been doing in recent years.”
Locarno does a nice job, better than most, and they have the luxuty of being able to show many, many films there . . . but, screening there in 2011:
Cowboys & Aliens
Super 8
Drive
Friends with Benefits
Red State
Attack the Block
Another Earth
Terri
The Color Wheel
Without
Babyland
Ringo
The Pardo d’onore Swisscom will be awarded to Abel Ferrara and four of his films will beshown there.
The Raimondo Rezzonico Prize will be awarded to Mike Medevoy, and the following films will be screened:
APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX by Francis Ford Coppola
United States – 1979-2001 – 202 min
DANCES WITH WOLVES by Kevin Costner
United States/UK – 1990 – 181 min
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO’S NEST by Milos Forman
United States – 1975 – 133 min
SHUTTER ISLAND by Martin Scorsese
United States – 2010 – 138 min
There’s also a major Vincente Minelli retrospective.
. . . And, as has already been pointed out, Venice has still not formally announced, and the films listed was not even all the films reported, but . . .
“Russia”
Sokurov’s film will reportedly be there, as will Victor Kossakovsky’s doc Long Live the Antipodes!. Alexey Fedorchenko will be on the jury.
“complete abscence of Asian, Latin American and African cinemas”
Wei Te-sheng’s Seediq Bale will be there, as will Sion Sono ’s Himizu
. . . so there’s at least going to be some presence of Asian film.
Dimitris, I agree both with your general point and with your specific point about Skolimowski’s films, but still, festivals have never NOT been political and therefore have never been objective, and therefore their effect cascades down to skew what we get to see (or, at least, how easy it is for us to see it in anything like the way it was intended to be seen). This is more or less the way it has always worked.
I actually meant the films that are in competition,you’re obviously right there will be films from all countries and regions I mentioned among the estimated total 170 films being screened at the festival. The same with Locarno, one needs to distinguish between the actually competing films of the official selection (Another Earth; Terri) and those mentioned above which are screened as separate events at the Piazza Grande, the largest open-air screen in Europe (Cowboys & Aliens; Super 8; etc.). The competing films in 2011 which I was referencing as an example of more variety in terms of regional cinemas are:
ABRIR PUERTAS Y VENTANAS (Back to Stay)
by Milagros Mumenthaler – Argentina/Switzerland/Holland – 2011 – 99 min
ANOTHER EARTH
by Mike Cahill – United States – 2011 – 92 min
BEIRUT HOTEL
by Danielle Arbid – Lebanon/France – 2011 – 98 min
CRULIC – DRUMUL SPRE DINCOLO (Crulic – The Path to Beyond)
by Anca Damian – Romania/Poland – 2011 – 72 min – Animation
DERNIÈRE SÉANCE (Last Screening)
by Laurent Achard – France – 2011 – 81 min
DIN DRAGOSTE CU CELE MAI BUNE INTENTII (Best Intentions)
by Adrian Sitaru – Romania/Hungary – 2011 – 105 min
EL AÑO DEL TIGRE (The Year of the Tiger)
by Sebastián Lelio – Chile – 2011 – 82 min
HASHOTER (Policeman)
by Nadav Lapid – Israel – 2011 – 107 min
LES CHANTS DE MANDRIN (Smugglers’ Songs)
by Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche – France – 2011 – 97 min
LOW LIFE
by Nicolas Klotz and Elisabeth Perceval – France – 2011 – 128 min
MANGROVE
by Frédéric Choffat and Julie Gilbert – Switzerland/France – 2011 – 70 min
ONDER ONS (Among Us)
by Marco Van Geffen – Holland – 2011 – 84 min
SAUDADE
by Katsuya Tomita – Japan – 2011 – 167 min
SETTE OPERE DI MISERICORDIA (Seven Acts of Mercy)
by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio – Italy/Romania – 2011 – 100 min
TANATHUR (Last Days in Jerusalem / Derniers jours à Jerusalem)
by Tawfik Abu Wael – Israel/Palestine/France/Germany – 2011 – 81 min
TERRI
by Azazel Jacobs – United States – 2010 – 105 min
THE LONELIEST PLANET
by Julia Loktev – United States/Germany – 2011
TOKYO KOEN
by Shinji Aoyama – Japan – 2011 – 119 min
UN AMOUR DE JEUNESSE (Goodbye First Love)
by Mia Hansen-Løve – France/Germany – 2011 – 110 min
VOL SPÉCIAL
by Fernand Melgar – Switzerland – 2011 – 103 min
To me, the in competition/out of competition distinction seems like little more than a neat way for Locarno to have it both ways.
I admit you’re probably right about that, it would certainly be wrong to call Locarno the overall better festival, it’s just the way Venice mainly gives credit to anglophone cinema that bothered me. With my initial statement I only wanted to express my disappointment about Venice’s in-competition, but I’m sure there will be a number of interesting discoveries among the remaining films being screened there worth looking out for.
I certainly admire what Locarno is doing, of course, even if it’s still open to criticism. There does seem to have been something of a shift at Venice in recent years, with American films winning the Golden Lion three out of the past six years. I think these things are probably cyclical, though. Historically, Locorno has awarded the Golden Leopard to American films with much greater regularity—11 times is 60-some years vs. 5 times (two of which were ties) in roughly the same span of time.
I think we can all agree that that is a result of America producing far superior films.
Philippe Garrel’s “A Burning Hot Summer” stars his son Louis, as usual, and features — for the last time — hos father Maurice.
The DP is Willy Kurant, a superlative cinematographer whose credits inclue “Masculin Feminin,” “Le Depart,” “The Immortal Story” and “Pootie Tang.”
Hmm. “Superlative” and “Pootie Tang” in the same sentence? Interesting.
Below is the Competition line-up announced a short while ago by Venice: http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/lineup/
TOMAS ALFREDSON – TINKER, TAYLOR, SOLDIER, SPY – UK, Germany, 127’
Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt
ANDREA ARNOLD – WUTHERING HEIGHTS – UK, 128’
Kaya Scodelario, Nichola Burley, Steve Evets, Oliver Milburn
AMI CANAAN MANN – TEXAS KILLING FIELDS – USA, 109’
Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
GEORGE CLOONEY – THE IDES OF MARCH [OPENING FILM] – USA, 98’
Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
CRISTINA COMENCINI – QUANDO LA NOTTE – Italy, 116’
Claudia Pandolfi, Filippo Timi, Michela Cescon, Thomas Trabacchi
EMANUELE CRIALESE – TERRAFERMA – Italy, France, 88’
Filippo Pucillo, Donatella Finocchiaro, Giuseppe Fiorello, Claudio Santamaria
DAVID CRONENBERG – A DANGEROUS METHOD – Germany, Canada, 99’
Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel
ABEL FERRARA – 4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH – USA, 82’
Willem Dafoe, Shanyn Leigh, Paz de la Huerta
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN – KILLER JOE – USA, 103’
Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon
PHILIPPE GARREL – UN ÉTÉ BRULANT – France, Italy, Switzerland, 95’
Monica Bellucci, Louis Garrel, Céline Sallette, Jérôme Robart
ANN HUI – TAOJIE (A SIMPLE LIFE) – China-Hong Kong, China, 117’
Andy Lau, Deanie Yip, Anthony Wong, Tsui Hark
ERAN KOLIRIN – HAHITHALFUT (THE EXCHANGE) – Israel, Germany, 94’
Rotem Keinan, Sharon Tal, Dov Navon, Shirili Deshe
YORGOS LANTHIMOS – ALPEIS (ALPS) – Greece, 93’
Ariane Labed, Aggeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris
STEVE MCQUEEN – SHAME – United Kingdom, 99’
Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge, Nicole Beharie
GIAN ALFONSO PACINOTTI [GIPI] – L’ULTIMO TERRESTRE – Italy, 100’
Gabriele Spinelli, Anna Bellato, Roberto Herlitzka, Teco Celio
ROMAN POLANSKI – CARNAGE – France, Germany, Spain, Poland, 79’
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly
MARJANE SATRAPI, VINCENT PARONNAUD – POULET AUX PRUNES – France, Belgium, Germany, 90’
Mathieu Amalric, Maria De Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Isabella Rossellini, Chiara Mastroianni
ALEKSANDER SOKUROV – FAUST – Russia, 134’
Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinskiy, Isolda Dychauk, Hanna Schygulla
TODD SOLONDZ – DARK HORSE – USA, 84’
Mia Farrow, Christopher Walken, Justin Bartha, Selma Blair
SION SONO – HIMIZU – Japan, 129’
Shôta Sometani, Fumi Nikaidô, Tetsu Watanabe, Mitsuru Fukikoshi
TE-SHENG WEI – SEEDIQ BALE – China, Taiwan, 135’
Da-Ching, Umin Boya, Landy Wen, Lo Mei-ling
festivals have never NOT been political and therefore have never been objective
Like the way that was worded.
It avoids saying that politics is subjective, which would imply those putting forth their political agenda are no better than the festivals.
In fact, the taste underlying that agenda is not to be debated, which is the point of politicizing films – it potentially gives dull films a raison d’être.
I had a hope Reygadas would be in the line-up, but we’ll have to wait until next year at least:(
My guess is that A Dangerous Method will be a great film, and also Cronenberg’s breakthrough for the really wide audience, giving him an Oscar for best film.
impressed by the brevity CRONENBERG’s in short and Polanski’s runs 79mins
Cronenberg’s films are very reliably around 100 minutes. I think Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers are the only ones that run significantly longer than that.
“The Ghost Writer” is a masterpiece.
yep
OK, The Ghost Writer a masterpiece and The Pianist underrated, what will I hear next, that Polanski never had a career crisis? Seriously people, seriously…
“films not ready in time for the festival:
Walter Salles
Wong Kar Wai
Luc Besson
Brillante Mendoza
Fatih Akin.”
Wanted to see that new Akin film.
apparently Sokurov required completions funds:
“One of the most accomplished living Russian directors, Aleksandr Sokurov, is struggling to complete his latest epic based on Goethe’s tragic play, “Faust”. There is simply no money left to finish the film, Russia Today reports. The director was previously quoted as saying that his latest drama has been made “on the money given by Putin.”
The budget of the co-production was reportedly US$17 million, with foreign investors having made some substantial contributions. They are ready to help again, however, as Sokurov explained, preparing all the necessary documents will consume a lot of time.
It has been recently announced that Faust will be screened at the world’s oldest film festival in Venice in September. The film is currently in the final stages of production. Shooting of Faust took place in Iceland and in the Czech Republic, with Icelandic and German actors taking part.
Films by the Siberian-born St Petersburg-based director have received accolades from critics around the world with Sokurov’s films playing at the most prestigious festivals. The award-winning director of Mother and Son, Moloch, and The Sun has long been interested by the phenomenon of power and conformity in his films."
Link: http://www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/news/common/news3122.html
^^probably explains the delay. always wonderedhow he got that budget anyway!
Ghost Writer should be arrested for coming within one million miles/kilometers (take your pick) of the word masterpiece.
I believe the original title was The Ghost Writer Masterpiece.
“Wanted to see that new Akin film.”
Me too.
Announced yesterday: Johnnie To’s Life Without Principle will also be in competition.
Matt Parks
Philippe Garrel’s A Burning Hot Summer
Eran Kolirin’s The Exchange
Cristina Comencini’s Quando la notte
Emanuele Crialese’s Terraferma
films not ready in time for the festival:
Walter Salles
Wong Kar Wai
Luc Besson
Brillante Mendoza
Fatih Akin.