email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

BIOGRAFILM 2017

A Biografilm Festival all about dance

by 

- The programme of the 13th edition of the festival dedicated to life stories, documentaries and biopics, which will be held in Bologna from 9 to 19 June, has just been unveiled

A Biografilm Festival all about dance
The Dancer by Stéphanie Di Giusto

In the same year as La La Land’s triumph, dance will be the central theme of the upcoming Biografilm Festival, the biggest international event dedicated entirely to life stories, documentaries and biopics, the 13th edition of which will be held in Bologna from 9 to 19 June. The festival will kick off with the film that symbolises this year, The Dancer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Stéphanie Di Giusto, with the director and the extraordinary protagonist Soko in attendance, continuing with Reset [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai, on the famous choreographer of Black Swan Benjamin Millepied. Then there’s The Paris Opera [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Jean-Stéphane Bron, an ironic behind-the-scenes look at the Paris Opera during one of its busiest seasons, Bobbi Jene [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Elvira Lind, on the life of the ballerina of the same name, and Move! Dance Your Life, the poetic journey of dance around the world directed by Fanny Jean-Noël.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The International Competition will feature ten premieres of films from all over the world, including French-German film Nothingwood [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Sonia Kronlund, about Salim Shaheen, one of the most prolific directors in Afghanistan who specialises in musical action films; Dutch film To Stay Alive: A Method [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Arno Hagers, Erik Lieshout and Reinier van Brummelen, which tells the story of the encounter between Iggy Pop and Michel Houellebecq; Norwegian film Karenina & I [+see also:
trailer
interview: Tommaso Mottola, Gørild Mau…
film profile
]
by Tommaso Mottola featuring the voice of Liam Neeson; and Swiss film Quand j’étais Cloclo in which Stefano Knuchel reinterprets his own crazy childhood on the road.

Contemporary Lives, the section dedicated to characters and issues that have most marked our present, will feature a large number of first works, no fewer than five in fact, including Dutch title Stranger in Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Guido Hendrikx, an experiment in which three groups of young migrants give three different images of Europe; Danish film Dream Empire [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by David Borenstein, on the follies of the global market; and German film Dream Boat [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Tristan Ferland Milewski, on a cruise liner exclusively for homosexuals. Other films in the section include Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Florent Vassault, on the ethical dilemma of a jury member who voted to sentence a man to death, and Winnie [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Pascale Lamche, on the controversial figure of Nelson Mandela’s wife.

There’s no lack of first films in Biografilm Italia either, the competitive section dedicated to national documentaries, almost all of the titles in which will be shown in their world premieres. The section features debut film The Prince [+see also:
trailer
interview: Raffaele Passerini
film profile
]
by Raffaele Passerini, on Dario Galetti Magnani, the “prince” of the nudist beach in Capocotta, near Rome; Être et durer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Serena Mignani, on a mother who analyses the preferred discipline of her son, parkour, and reflects on the dangers involved; Funeralopolis. A Suburban Portrait by Alessandro Redaelli, the portrait of an extreme underground microcosm, and Bagnini e bagnanti by Fabio Peleari, on the relationship of lifeguards with women, from the 1960s up to the present day. The section also includes Skyscraper Cinema [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Marco Bertozzi, on the skyscraper in Rimini which was opened in the early 1960s in the full throes of the economic boom, something between an ecomonster and a monument to progress, and is today home to around 20 different nationalities.

Confirming its status as the “documentary festival with the best selection of fiction”, as it is defined by its director Andrea Romeo, the Biografilm Europa section will feature, among others, Après la guerre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Annarita Zambrano
film profile
]
by Annarita Zambrano, which will have its second world screening in Bologna, straight after being shown at the Cannes Film Festival; Bulgarian-Greek title Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile
]
by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov; Polish-British film All These Sleepless Nights [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Michal Marczak, which won the award for Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival; Tom of Finland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dome Karukoski
film profile
]
by Dome Karukoski, on the fascinating life of this illustrator and animator of homoerotic images, a true gay art icon; and The Odyssey [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Jérôme Salle, on Jacques Cousteau. Last but not least, among the titles being shown in the Biografilm Art and Biografilm Music section are the highly-anticipated Italian premiere of Manifesto [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, a film directed by artist and director Julian Rosefeldt in which Cate Blanchett plays 13 different roles, and Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock by Barnaby Clay, which celebrates the photographer of music stars, Mick Rock.

This year’s tributes are dedicated to director Peter Greenaway and actress Piera Degli Esposti, who will be awarded the Celebration of Lives Award, as will documentary master Angus Mcqueen, actress and director Sabina Guzzanti, and artistic duo Michele Mellara and Alessandro Rossi.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Italian)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy