In competition are Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep, Brian De Palma’s Passion, Spike Lee’s Michael Jackson documentary Bad 25 and Susanne Bier’s Italian comedy Love Is All You Need starring Pierce Brosnan.
Both Italy and France are well represented in Venice’s Official Selection, with 20 Italian projects and 25 French films, compared to 15 American films.
Significantly, the 2012 edition of the festival marks the return of Alberto Barbera, who returns as artistic director for a second stint after Marco Mueller’s resignation. Barbera was festival head between 1998 and 2001.
Barbera has marked his return by introducing a Venice Film Market for the first time, as well as making the festival more tech-savvy with an online screening room.
The market will take place between Aug 30 and Sept 3 while the online screening room will live stream Orrizonti titles to viewers for €4 each. The screening room will be organised by Festival Scope.
The festival opens on Aug 29 with Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, followed by “jazz fusion” documentary Enzo Avitabile Music Life by Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme. Both films are out of competition.
The American Henry-Alex Rubinwill – who made waves with his study of wheelchair sport Murderball – will present his eagerly anticipated debut feature film debut Disconnect, which stars Alexander Skarsgard, Jason Bateman and Andrea Riseborough.
The closing film on Sept 8, also out of competition, will be Jean-Pierre Ameris’ L’homme qui rit starring Gerard Depardieu.
Here’s the full line-up:
COMPETITION
Something In The Air (Apres Mai), dir Olivier Assayas (France)
At Any Price, dir Ramin Bahrani (US-UK)
Dormant Beauty (Bella Addormentata), dir Marco Bellocchio (Italy-France)
La Cinquieme Saison, dirs Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth (Belgium-Netherlands-France)
Fill The Void (Lemale Et Ha’Chalal), dir Rama Burshtein (Israel)
E Stato il Figlio, dir Daniele Cipri (Italy-France)
Un Giorno Speciale, dir Francesca Comencini (Italy)
Passion, dir Brian De Palma (France-Germany)
Superstar, dir Xavier Giannoli (France-Belgium)
Pieta, dir Kim Ki-duk (South Korea)
Outrage Beyond, dir Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
Spring Breakers, dir Harmony Korine (US)
To The Wonder, dir Terrence Malick (US)
Thy Womb (Sinapupunan), dir Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)
Linhas de Wellington, dir Valeria Sarmiento (Portugal-France)
Paradise: Faith (Paradies: Glaube), dir Ulrich Seidl (Austria-France-Germany)
Betrayal (Izmena), dir Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)
OUT OF COMPETITION
L’homme qui rit, dir Jean-Pierre Ameris (France-Czech Republic)
Love Is All You Need (Den skaldede frisor), dir Susanne Bier (Denmark-Sweden)
Cherchez Hortense, dir Pascal Bonitzer (France)
Sur un fil…, dir Simon Brook (France-Italy)
Enzo Avitabile Music Life, dir Jonathan Demme (Italy-US)
Tai Chi 0, dir Stephen Fung (China)
Lullaby To My Father, dir Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Switzerland)
Penance (Shokuzai), dir Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)
Bad 25, dir Spike Lee (US)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, dir Mira Nair (India-Pakistan-US)
O Gebo e a Sombra, dir Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal-France)
The Company You Keep, dir Robert Redford (US)
Shark (Bait 3D), dir Kimble Rendall (Australia-Singapore-China)
Disconnect, dir Henry-Alex Rubin (US)
The Iceman, dir Ariel Vromen (US)
OUT OF COMPETITION-SPECIAL EVENTS
Anton’s Right Here (Anton tut ryadom), dir Lyubov Arkus (Russia)
It Was Better Tomorrow (Ya Man Aach), dir Hinde Boujemaa (Tunisia)
Clarisse, dir Liliana Cavani (Italy)
Sfiorando il muro, dirs Silvia Giralucci and Luca Ricciardi (Italy)
Carmel, dir Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Italy)
El impenetrable, dirs Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini (Argentina-France)
Witness: Libya, dirs Abdallah Omeish and David Frankham (US)
Medici con l’Africa, dir Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
La nave dolce, dir Daniele Vicari (Italy-Albania)
ORRIZONTI (HORIZONS) FEATURES
Wadjda, dir Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia-Germany)
The Paternal House (Khaneh Pedari), dir Kianoosh Ayari (Iran)
I Also Want It (Ja Tozhe Hochu), dir Alexey Balabanov (Russia)
Gli Equilibristi, dir Ivano De Matteo (Italy-France)
L’intervallo, dir Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy-Switzerland-Germany)
Winter of Discontent (El Sheita Elli Fat), dir Ibrahim El Batout (Egypt)
Tango Libre, dir Frederic Fonteyne (Belgium-France-Luxembourg)
The Cutoff Man (Menatek Ha-Maim), dir Idan Hubel (Israel)
Fly With The Crane (Gaosu tame, wo cheng baihe qu le), dir Li Ruijun (China)
A Hijacking (Kapringen), dir Tobias Lindholm (Denmark)
Leones, dir Jazmin Lopez (Argentina-France-Netherlands)
Bellas Mariposas, dir Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
Low Tide, dir Roberto Minervini (US-Italy-Belgium)
Boxing Day, dir Bernard Rose (UK-US)
Yema, dir Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-France)
Araf – Somewhere In Between, dir Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey-France-Germany)
The Millennial Rapture (Sennen no Yuraku), dir Koji Wakamatsu (Japan)
Three Sisters (San Zi Mei), dir Wang Bing (France-Hong Kong-China)
