26/07/2022 - Eighteen films in competition and nine extra titles form the programme of the Venice Film Festival section focused on new discoveries, from 31 August to 10 September

Roberto De Paolis with his second film after the well-received Pure Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto De Paolis
film profile]; the highly anticipated new work by Teona Strugar Mitevska (titled The Happiest Man in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile]) after God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Labina Mitevska
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile]; Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (La Pivellina [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Mister Universo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) with their film dedicated to the daughter of actor Giuliano Gemma, Vera [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
film profile]; Isabelle Huppert in the new film by Jean-Paul Salomé, The Sitting Duck [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Paul Salomé
film profile]: these are just a few of the highlights of the Orizzonti (and Orizzonti Extra) programme of the 79th Venice Film Festival (31 August-10 September), a section that will also host numerous first works and two films from Iran, while the international community is strongly calling for the release of Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad.

De Paolis himself will open the Orizzonti section with Princess [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto De Paolis
film profile], with a Nigerian prostitute as the protagonist of a film “with fabulous and dramatic tones, between documentary and fiction,” as described by the festival’s artistic director Barbera, during the presentation of the program today in Venice. Among the 18 films in competition, Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile], the feature debut from Slovakian director Michal Blasko, explores the personal and ethical conflict of a mother surprised by her son's behavior, against the backdrop of issues such as racism, internal immigration between European countries and nationalistic tensions. Other feature debuts selected include On the Fringe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juan Diego Botto
film profile] from Spanish Juan Diego Botto, with Penelope Cruz and Luis Tosar; the Polish title Bread and Salt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile] by Damian Kocur, about a promising pianist who returns to his native village for the summer, in a mix of classical music, hip-hop, violence and xenophobia; the Romanian film To the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mihai Mincan
film profile] by Mihai Mincan, set on a cargo ship that transports illegal immigrants fleeing to Canada.

Coming from Italy are Ti mangio il cuore [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pippo Mezzapesa
film profile] by Pippo Mezzapesa, a powerful story of family feuds in Puglia, marking the highly anticipated screen debut of pop star Elodie; from Francia, For My Country [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rachid Hami
film profile], the second film from Rachid Hami (after Orchestra Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), a personal drama telling the story of the young victim of an initiation ritual in a military academy in France; from Ukraine, a comedy inspired by Kusturica, titled Luxembourg, Luxembourg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Lukich
film profile]. The sole documentary in Orizzonti is Innocence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guy Davidi
film profile] by Guy Davidi, about suicides among young Israeli army recruits.

The Orizzonti Extra subsection, successfully inaugurated last year, features nine titles in the running for the audience award. Among them is the opening film The Origin of Evil [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Sébastien Marnier, starring Laure Calamy (Best Actress in Orizzonti last year); Amanda [+see also:
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interview: Benedetta Porcaroli
film profile], the feature debut by Carolina Cavalli, with Giovanna Mezzogiorno in the role of a mother unable to respond to the needs of her restless daughter, embodied by Benedetta Porcaroli; another Italian title, Notte fantasma [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fulvio Risuleo
film profile] is the third film by Fulvio Risuleo, and centres on the encounter between a strange policeman and a teenager of Egyptian origin who spend a night together. Finally, two Iranian films (World War III by Houman Seyedi, a metaphor for today's Iranian society that promises to surprise viewers; and Without Her, the debut from Arian Vazirdaftari who winks at Hitchcock, but always against the background of the social issues dear to the Iranian cinema of today) and a Syrian film, Nezouh [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Soudade Kaadan, who won the Lion of the Future - "Luigi de Laurentiis" Award for Best Debut Film in 2018 with The Day I Lost My Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Soudade Kaadan
film profile].

(Check out the Competition and Out of Competition selections here.)

The selected films:

Orizzonti

Princess [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto De Paolis
film profile] - Roberto De Paolis (Italy) (opening film)
Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile] - Michal Blasko (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Germany)
On the Fringe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juan Diego Botto
film profile] - Juan Diego Botto (Spain)
Trenque Lauquen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Citarella
film profile] - Laura Citarella (Argentina/Germany)
Vera [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
film profile] - Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel (Austria)
Innocence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guy Davidi
film profile] - Guy Davidi (Denmark/Israel/Finland/Iceland)
Blanquita [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Fernando Guzzoni (Chile/Mexico/Luxembourg/France/Poland)
For My Country [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rachid Hami
film profile] - Rachid Hami (France)
A Man - Kei Ishikawa (Japan)
Bread and Salt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile] - Damian Kocur (Poland)
Luxembourg, Luxembourg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Lukich
film profile] - Antonio Lukich (Ukraine)
Ti mangio il cuore [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pippo Mezzapesa
film profile] - Pippo Mezzapesa (Italy)
To the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mihai Mincan
film profile] - Mihai Mincan (Romania/France/Greece/Bulgaria/Czech Republic)
Autobiography [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Makbul Mubarak (Indonesia/France/Germany/Poland/Singapore/Philippines/Qatar)
The Sitting Duck [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Paul Salomé
film profile] - Jean-Paul Salomé (France/Germany)
World War III - Houman Seyedi (Iran)
The Happiest Man in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile] - Teona Strugar Mitevska (North Macedonia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Belgium/Croatia/Denmark/Slovenia)
The Bride [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sérgio Tréfaut (Portugal)

Orizzonti Extra

The Origin of Evil [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sébastien Marnier (France/Canada) (opening film)
Hanging Gardens [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji
film profile] - Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji (Irak/Panama/Saudi Arabia/Egypt/UK)
Amanda [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedetta Porcaroli
film profile] - Carolina Cavalli (Italy)
Red Shoes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser (Mexico/Italy)
Nezouh [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Soudade Kaadan (UK/Syria/France)
Notte fantasma [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fulvio Risuleo
film profile] - Fulvio Risuleo (Italy)
Without Her - Arian Vazirdaftari (Iran)
Valeria Is Getting Married [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Michal Vinik (Israel/Ukraine)
Goliath - Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/Russia)

Orizzonti Short Films

Christopher at Sea - Tom CJ Brown (France/USA/UK)
Manuale di cinematografia per dilettanti - Vol. I - Federico Di Corato (Italy)
Tria - Del sentimento del tradire - Giulia Grandinetti (Italy)
Nocomodo - Lola Halifa-Legrand (France)
Rutubet - Turan Haste (Italy)
Snow in September - Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France/Mongolia)
Please Hold the Line - Ce Ding Tan (Malaysia)
The Fruit Tree - Isabelle Tollenaere (Belgium)
III - Salomé Villeneuve (Canada)
Love Forever - Clare Young (Australia)
My Girlfriend - Kawthar Younis (Egypt)
Everything at Once - Henrik Dyb Zwart (Norway)

(Translated from Italian)