23/07/2019 - Comic book author Igort’s directorial debut is also among the 11 titles competing in the independent section of the Venice Film Festival, running 28 August to 7 September

The 16th edition of Giornate degli Autori (28 August -7 September), the ever-vital independent section helmed by Giorgio Gosetti whose jury will this year be presided over by Andrea Purgatori for the very first time, and which will unspool alongside the 76th Venice Film Festival, will open with Only the Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile], an auteur mystery movie directed by Dominik Moll and starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, and will close with Time of the Untamed [+see also:
interview: Bartabas
film profile] by the “horse king” himself Bartabas. Eleven films will feature in the competition (amongst which 4 first works), while 8 special events and 7 “Venetian Nights” are also planned. Eighteen nationalities will be represented in total, including countries such as the Sudan or Laos whose films are set to participate in the Festival for the first time ever.

A return to spirituality and to ancestral roots, unyielding in the face of massification, is the common thread running through the various films in competition this year: from You Will Die at 20 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amjad Abu Alala
film profile] by the newcomer Amjad Abu Alala, set in the present-day Sudanese region of El-Gezira and revolving around an unsettling death prophecy, to A Bigger World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabienne Berthaud
film profile] by Fabienne Berthaud, taking the viewer on a journey of initiation through Mongolia following a great loss, and starring Cécile De France, by way of Jayro Bustamante’s The Weeping Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jayro Bustamante
film profile], in which the ancient myth of this very same Weeping Woman is brought back to life in the time of the Guatemalan civil war, and not forgetting The Long Walk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mattie Do
film profile] by Mattie Do, a ghost story in the purest, most traditional Asian form, but which resonates loudly with the modern-day world.

A layman’s encounter with Catholic culture is the topic of Jan Komasa’s third film, Corpus Christi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Bielenia
interview: Jan Komasa
film profile], which sees twenty-year-old Daniel find his true spiritual calling – one which clashes drastically with his past - while imprisoned in a reformatory (all based on a true story). Meanwhile, two young boys find themselves caught up in a terrible accident and conflicting accounts of this accident abound in Dag Johan Haugerud’s Beware of Children [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile]. For its part, the directorial debut of the comic book author Igort - 5 Is the Perfect Number [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igort
film profile], adapted from his homonymous graphic novel – is arousing much curiosity, and there is no lack of comedy either, thanks to Arab Blues [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Manele Labidi
film profile] by Manele Labidi, featuring the Iranian star Golshifteh Farahani who sinks her teeth into a brilliant role (news). Next, we find the Japanese first work They Say Nothing Stays The Same by Jo Odagiri, and Philippino director Isabel Sandoval’s third film, Lingua Franca, the first American film written and directed by, but also starring a transgender immigrant.

Special screening events include My Brother Chases Dinosaurs [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Stefano Cipani
film profile] by Stefano Cipani, and the documentaries Scherza con i fanti [+see also:
trailer
interview: Gianfranco Pannone, Ambrogi…
film profile] by Gianfranco Pannone and Mondo Sexy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Mario Sesti
film profile] by Mario Sesti, as well as the usual Venice short films sidebar, Miu Miu Women’s Tales, directed this year by Hailey Gates and Lynne Ramsay.

As per usual, the films in the official selection will compete for the Europa Cinemas Label, the BNL-BNP Paribas Audience Award, the GdA Director’s Award assigned by the jury of the Giornate – which is itself made up of 28 Times Cinema participants (read our news) – as well as a host of other side awards and, for newcomers, the Future Lion.

The Giornate degli Autori selection 2019 is as follows:

Competition

Only the Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile] - Dominik Moll (France/Germany)
You Will Die At 20 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amjad Abu Alala
film profile] - Amjad Abu Alala (Sudan/France/Egypt/Germany/Norway)
A Bigger World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabienne Berthaud
film profile] - Fabienne Berthaud (France/Belgium)
The Weeping Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jayro Bustamante
film profile] - Jayro Bustamante (Guatemala/France)
The Long Walk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mattie Do
film profile] - Mattie Do (Laos/Spain/Singapore)
Beware of Children [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] - Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway/Sweden)
5 Is the Perfect Number [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igort
film profile] – Igort (Italy/Belgium/France)
Corpus Christi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Bielenia
interview: Jan Komasa
film profile] - Jan Komasa (Poland/France)
Arab Blues [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Manele Labidi
film profile] - Manele Labidi (Tunisia/France)
They Say Nothing Stays The Same (Aru Sendo No Hanashi) - Jo Odagiri (Japan)
Lingua Franca - Isabel Sandoval (US/Philippines)

Out of Competition

Time of the Untamed [+see also:
interview: Bartabas
film profile] - Bartabas (France)

Miu Miu Women’s Tales

Shako Mako - Hailey Gates (Italy/US) (short film)
Brigitte - Lynne Ramsay (Italy/UK) (short film)

Special Events

My Brother Chases Dinosaurs [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Stefano Cipani
film profile] - Stefano Cipani (Italy/Spain)
House of Cardin - P David Ebersole, Todd Hughes (US)
Il prigioniero - Federico Olivetti (Italy) (short film)
Scherza con i fanti [+see also:
trailer
interview: Gianfranco Pannone, Ambrogi…
film profile] - Gianfranco Pannone (Italy)
Mondo Sexy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Mario Sesti
film profile] - Mario Sesti (Italy)
Burning Cane - Phillip Youmans (US)

Venetian Nights

La Legge degli Spazi Bianchi [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Mauro Caputo (Italy)
Emilio Vedova. Dalla parte del Naufragio [+see also:
trailer
interview: Tomaso Pessina
film profile] - Tomaso Pessina (Italy)
The Great Green Wall [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jared P Scott
film profile] - Jared P. Scott (UK)
Cercando Valentina [+see also:
trailer
interview: Giancarlo Soldi
film profile] - Giancarlo Soldi (Italy)
Sufficiente - Maddalena Stornaiuolo, Antonio Ruocco (Italy) (short film)

(Translated from Italian)