25/07/2022 - European titles dominate in this year's selection of the parallel section of the Venice Film Festival, more oriented towards the public and with many dreamers among its protagonists

An International Film Critics' Week for everyone, playing with genres, inclusive, sunny. 2022 is a "year zero" for the autonomous and parallel section of the Venice Film Festival organised by the National Union of Italian Film Critics, whose 37th edition will take place from 31 August to 10 September. A new logo (a screen that knocks down the fourth wall), a physical space of its own on the Lido (la Casa della critica), new partners (including IWonderfull, the streaming platform of I Wonder Pictures, which will award its Grand Prize endowed with €5,000), a new acronym created with the aid of artificial intelligence, and of course, last but not least, new content.

Presenting the programme this morning in Rome were SNCCI president Cristiana Paternò and Critics’ Week general delegate Beatrice Fiorentino. Seven titles in competition, two out of competition, almost all European, of various genres (romantic comedy, horror, thriller), with a common trait: "These are nine titles that, after the two very difficult years marked by the pandemic, are moving towards light, colour, friendship, community," specifies Fiorentino. "The protagonists are all dreamers fighting for a better, more inclusive future. And most of the films reflect on gender identity: the binary scheme seems completely outdated.” She adds: “it is a more audience-oriented International Film Critics’ Week, which sends a signal of encouragement to the industry.”

The dances will open with Florent Gouelou's Three Nights A Week [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florent Gouëlou
film profile], a queer romantic comedy in nocturnal Paris, presented as "an explosion of light, colour and love." Closing the section will be Queens [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Yasmine Benkiran, a feminist road movie following three women on the run from the police who cross the Moroccan desert towards the Atlantic coast and a possible new future.

Theo Montoya's Anhell69 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Theo Montoya
film profile] starts out from the queer community of Medellin to tell the story of a violent city, a generation without a future but that still manages to dream, also thanks to cinema. Beating Sun [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Petit
film profile] by Philippe Petit, a title considered by the selectors to be the "pivot of the entire programme," is the story of an architect (Swann Arlaud) who dreams of redeveloping the square of a neighbourhood in the centre of Marseille, "a political but not ideological film, between the poetry of Rohmer and the militancy of Brizé." Dogborn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabella Carbonell
film profile] by Isabella Carbonell is the story of two homeless twins struggling to survive in an unscrupulous society, "a descent into hell but also the tale of a possible rebirth." David Wagner's Eismayer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Wagner
film profile], based on a true story, revolves around an army officer known for his authoritarian methods, who is also gay and therefore faced with the dilemma of whether or not to indulge his nature in that kind of environment.

Have You Seen This Woman? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluš…
film profile] by Dusan Zoric and Matija Gluscevic is, according to Fiorentino, "the most incredibly unsettling film in the selection," about a woman who escapes the role that society imposes on her. Also selected is Margini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Niccolò Falsetti
film profile] by Niccolò Falsetti, a punk comedy that is "sincere, vital, full of energy: the classic lightning strike," with at its centre a group of dreamers from the Tuscan province who play in a band, but do not manage to break through. Finally, Skin Deep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Schaad
film profile] by Alex Schaad, announced as the most radical film of the selection, between psychological thriller and body horror, a transgender reflection on the boundaries of identity and the laws of attraction. This year's special event is the screening, 33 years after its debut in International Film Critics’ Week, of Pedro Costa's Blood, now restored.

In addition to the IWonderfull Grand Prize, the other novelty this year is the Film Club Audience Award, worth €3,000. The titles in competition will also compete for the Circolo del Cinema di Verona Prize, the Mario Sarandrei Prize and the Lion of the Future.

Here is the programme of the 37th International Film Critics’ Week:

Competition

Anhell69 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Theo Montoya
film profile] – Theo Montoya (Colombia)
Beating Sun [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Petit
film profile] – Philippe Petit (France)
Dogborn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabella Carbonell
film profile] – Isabella Carbonell (Sweden)
Eismayer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Wagner
film profile] – David Wagner (Austria)
Have You Seen This Woman? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluš…
film profile] – Dusan Zoric and Matija Gluscevic (Serbia)
Margini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Niccolò Falsetti
film profile] – Niccolò Falsetti (Italy)
Skin Deep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Schaad
film profile] – Alex Schaad (Germany)

Out of Competition

Three Nights A Week [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florent Gouëlou
film profile] – Florent Gouelou (France) (opening film)
Queens [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Yasmine Benkiran (Morocco) (closing film)

Special screening (in collaboration with the 79th Venice International Film Festival)

Blood – Pedro Costa (Portugal) (1989)

Short films SIC@SIC

Competition

Albertine Where Are You? – Maria Guidone (Italy)
Come le lumache – Margherita Panizon (Italy)
Nostos – Mauro Zingarelli – (Italy)
Puiet – Lorenzo Fabbro and Bronte Stahl (Italy/United States/Romania)
Reginetta – Federico Russotto (Italy)
Resti – Federico Fadiga (Italy)
La stanza lucida – Chiara Caterina (Italy)

Out of competition

Pinned Into a Dress – Gianluca Matarrese and Guillaume Thomas (France) (opening short film)
Happy Birthday – Giorgio Ferrero (Italy) (closing short film)

(Translated from Italian)