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Filmmakers James Gray, Andrew Haigh and Agnieszka Holland have joined the main competition jury of the 81st Venice Film Festival (August 28-September 7).

They are joined by Brazilian director and screenwriter Kleber Mendonça Filho; Mauritanian director, screenwriter and producer Abderrahmane Sissako; Italian director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore; German director and screenwriter Julia von Heinz; and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.

As previously announced, the jury will be chaired by Isabelle Huppert, and award the Golden Lion for best film and the other official awards.

Gray’s Ad Astra screened in competition at Venice in 2019, and his directorial debut Little Odessa received the...

The ninth edition of the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (Emiff) will go ahead with a physical edition as planned, with expected guests including actor Angela Molina and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, who will receive the Honorary and Vision awards, respectively.

Veteran Spanish actor Molina will receive the festival’s Honorary Award that celebrates an actor or filmmaker’s lifetime contribution to cinema, and will also present the European premiere of her new film, “Lalla Aicha,” directed by Morocco’s Mohamed el Badaoui.

Iranian-born French film director, novelist and illustrator Satrapi will be awarded the Emiff Vision award and is also expected to travel to Mallorca.

Festival founder and director Sandra Lipski said: “I am hugely excited about the sheer power our fabulous female award winners radiate. Angela perfectly embodies the Emiff spirit through her international work and the characters she portrays. Her strength and sensitivity are once again reflected in...

The 77th Venice Film Festival kicks off Wednesday, with Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Matt Dillon, and France’s Ludivine Sagnier among international stars expected on the social-distanced red carpet that will open the first major post coronavirus physical film event packed with plenty of symbolic significance.

Just as the release of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster spy thriller “Tenet” is now considered a post-pandemic turning point for exhibitors, Venice is likely to go down in the annals as the pivotal restart moment for film festivals.

Along with enough stars to keep the 120 accredited photographers happy enough, the fest’s opening ceremony will be attended by artistic directors of seven prominent European film events, including Cannes (Thierry Fremaux), Berlin (Carlo Chatrian) and Locarno (Lili Hinstin). As previously announced, these fest chiefs will be taking the stage to express solidarity toward other fests that have been cancelled or postponed and “especially to express...

As the Venice Film Festival ramps up for its 77th (and in-person!) run on September 2, now’s the time to peruse the lineup for the discoveries that will pop, especially in a festival season without many new major movies. One such discovery is the film from Kazakhstan “Yellow Cat,” set for the Horizons section dedicated to edgier fare looking to break out. IndieWire shares the exclusive first trailer for the film, which is directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov. Check it out below.

It’s no coincidence that the music in the trailer sounds a lot like Carl Orff’s “Gassenhauer,” the theme for Terrence Malick’s debut “Badlands.” Like that film, “Yellow Cat” follows lovers on the lam, running from a criminal background but still entangled in all sorts of misadventures. The story centers on ex-con Kermek (Azamat Nigmanov) and his beloved Eva (Kamila Nugmanova), who want to give up their...

While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled major festivals such as Cannes and Telluride, the 2020 Venice Film Festival is moving ahead as planned and will be the world’s first major film festival since Sundance and Berlin at the start of the year. Venice 2020’s main selection will be split into three sections: Venezia 77 (aka the main competition), Out of Competition, and Horizons. The titles selected for the main competition will compete for the Golden Lion, which was awarded last year to Todd Phillips’ “Joker.”

As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...

The Venice Film Festival is setting up quite the internationally starry jury this year. Running September 2-12, the festival has revealed all its jury members as led by president Cate Blanchett. Joining her will be Austrian director Veronika Franz, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg (“The Souvenir”), Italian writer and novelist Nicola Lagioia, German filmmaker Christian Petzold, Romanian director Cristi Puiu, and French actress Ludivine Sagnier.

Together, they will award the festival’s top prizes, including the Golden Lion, which last year went to “Joker” under jury president Lucrecia Martel.

Meaning, in the Orizzonti, or Horizons, section running parallel to the main competition, French favorite Claire Denis will lead the jury comprised of Oskar Alegria (Spain), Francesca Comencini (Italy), Katriel Schory (Israel), and Christine Vachon (USA).

Heading the jury for the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film are Claudio Giovannesi (Italy) as president, Remi Bonhomme (France), and Dora Bouchoucha...

The Venice Film Festival has announced that Daniele Luchetti’s “Lacci” will open the 77th edition on September 2, 2020. The decision is a notable one as “Lacci” becomes the first Italian movie to open the Venice Film Festival in 11 years. The last Italian opener was the 2009 opener, with Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa.” Luchetti’s “Lacci” is based on Domenico Starnone’s 2017 novel of the same name about a potential affair that threatens a marriage. The cast includes Alba Rohrwacher, Luigi Lo Cascio, Laura Morante, Silvio Orlando, and Linda Caridi.

“Recently, we have all feared that cinema might become extinct,” Luchetti said in a statement (via Deadline). “Yet during the quarantine it gave us comfort, like a light gleaming in a cavern. Today we have understood something else: that films, television series, novels, are indispensable in our lives. Long live festivals, then, which allow us to come together to celebrate the true meaning of our work.

The Venice Film Festival is set to open with “La Nostra Vita” director Daniele Luchetti’s latest film, “Lacci” (The Ties).

The Naples-set feature, which will play out of competition, stars Alba Rohrwacher, Luigi Lo Cascio, Laura Morante, Silvio Orlando, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Adriano Giannini and Linda Caridi. Set in the early 1980s, the film is based on Domenico Starnone’s eponymous 2017 novel and centers on a marriage that is threatened by a potential affair.

“Recently, we have all feared that cinema might become extinct,” said Luchetti. “Yet during the quarantine it gave us comfort, like a light gleaming in a cavern. Today we have understood something else: that films, television series, novels, are indispensable in our lives.

“Long live festivals, then, which allow us to come together to celebrate the true meaning of our work. If anyone thought it served no purpose, they now know it is important to everyone.

A tenuous art-scam/romance/thriller storyline is fatally undermined by rusty dialogue in Giuseppe Tornatore's latest, screened at the Berlin film festival

Bloodied but unbowed by the reception to his last film Baarìa – at least in these quarters – Giuseppe Tornatore is back, once again seeking to trap some ever-more elusive lightning in a bottle, as he did all those years ago with Cinema Paradiso. This time he's come up with a convoluted English-language art-scam/romance/thriller that sad to say, doesn't really work: the whole thing is as stiff and rigid as Geoffrey Rush's marcelled 'do.

Rush plays a lonely high-end auction-house proprietor called Virgil Oldman who leads one of those sinuously classy lifestyles you only see in the movies: fine wines, spotless tablecloths, servile waiters, and where shop assistants say "Excellent choice, sir!" without a trace of sarcasm. While Oldman is an accepted authority as an authenticator of all forms of antiquity,...

Last week saw the annual London Italian Film Festival showcase a week of exciting new Italian cinema at Ciné Lumière. This year’s raft of 10 titles was picked by Irene Bignardi and two Film London’s Adrian Wootton. They chose well. Very well, indeed. The festival continues throughout March at the Italian Cultural Institute with an homage to Federico Fellini and Mario Monicelli and a series of screenings focused on film and food.

Film-goers were treated to Passion (dir: Jon Turturro), We Believed (dir. Mario Martone), And Peace On Earth (dirs: Matteo Botrugno & Daniele Coluccini), Lost Kisses (dir. Roberta Torre), Basilicata Coast To Coast (dir. Rocco Papaleo), Angels of Evil (dir. Michele Placido), Sorelle Mai (dir. Marco Bellocchio), The Passion (dir. Carlo Mazzacurati), A Quiet Life (dir. Claudio Cupellini) and Gorbaciof (dir. Stefano Incerti).

One thing is for sure, all the films shown deserve to be seen and distributed in the UK.

Splice (15)

(Vincenzo Natali, 2009, Us) Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac. 104 mins

In case anyone thought mucking around with animal genes then raising the resultant mutant as your own child was a good idea, here's a strong warning. Scientists Brody and Polley initially enthuse over their secret breakthrough/lovechild, but several "do you really think we should be doing this?" moments later, they're living out every parent's worst nightmare: that your child grows wings and a venomous tail and turns on you. It's not up to Cronenberg standards, but it's smarter, less predictable and much funnier than it sounds.

Toy Story 3 (U)

(Lee Unkrich, 2010, Us) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack. 109 mins

Plaything perils at the daycare centre become a lesson in mortality, comradeship, prison-breaking and waste management in this near-perfect sequel. As usual, it's packed with thrills and gags, but as with Pixar's Up, there are moments when grown-ups...

Giuseppe "Cinema Paradiso" Tornatore's latest is a turgid, self-indulgent, treacle-smothered account of growing up in Sicily, writes Peter Bradshaw

There are those who can suck up two and a half hours of sentimental Sicilian tosh from director Giuseppe "Cinema Paradiso" Tornatore, but I'm not among them. After spending 150 minutes gazing into the rich ochre biscuity-sunset glow with which Tornatore swathes his movie, I think I might come down with something terrible, like people who spend too long on a tanning bed. It's a long, long, generational family picture about people who live out their lives in the small town of Bagheria, known in local dialect as Baarìa, near Palermo. Francesco Scianna plays Peppino, a boy who grows up to be a smoulderingly handsome youth, and then a career communist who spends a lot of time away from his home town. He is epically dull. It's a colossal Stella Artois ad.

Guiseppe Tornatore’s latest is a true magnum opus. Set over the course of one hundred years in the Torrenuova family, at times, it feels a curious hybrid of D.H. Lawrence and Steven Spielberg shot through a Marxist prism. Of course Baarìa is sentimental and uneven, but it does achieve moments of exquisite cinema aided by gorgeous cinematography and great performances.

Cinema Paradiso will hang around Tornatore’s neck like a lead weight for the rest of his career. But you sense this is his most personal work. He weaves a sprawling tapestry to create a working class epic paying tribute not only to his old neighbourhood Bagheria (Baarìa is the slang term), but the Sicilian national character. He’s proven to be a highly influential film-maker since the late 1980s with his focus on romanticised depictions of his country’s culture and way of life.

There is a less healthy influence,...

The Russian director's latest epic has bombed at the domestic box office, a victim of his close links to Vladimir Putin. Yet, it is possible to be state-sanctioned and not sell out

To be truly effective, James Joyce observed, the artist requires three things: silence, exile and cunning. But James Joyce never made movies. And while cunning is almost a genetic necessity in the world of film-making, the pursuit of exile will see you consigned, like Ovid, to the farthest reaches of empire.

But there's also a danger in being too clubby. Case in point: Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov, who has long enjoyed a seat at the big table, thanks in no small part to his reportedly close friendship with Vladimir Putin. Unsurprising, then, that much of his recent work has been prone to grandiloquent celebrations of Russian nationalism; most notoriously, there was the queasy moment in 1998's The Barber...

Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi in Marco Bellocchio’s Vincere Best Film BAARÌA produced by Medusa Film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore Mine Vaganti / Loose Cannons produced by Domenico Procacci directed by Ferzan Ozpetek La Prima Cosa Bella / The First Beautiful Thing produced by Fabrizio Donvito, Marco Cohen, Benedetto Habib for Medusa Film Motorino Amaranto, Indiana Production directed by Paolo Virzì L’Uomo Che Verra’ produced by Aranciafilm (Simone Bachini, Giorgio Diritti), Rai Cinema directed by Giorgio Diritti Vincere produced by Mario Gianani for Offside directed by Marco Bellocchio Best European Union Film Le Concert, Radu Mihaileanu (Bim) The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke (Lucky Red) A Prophet, Jacques Audiard (Bim) Soul Kitchen, Fatih Akin (Bim) Welcome, Philippe Lioret (Teodora Film) Best Foreign Film A Serious Man, by Joel & Ethan Coen (Medusa) Avatar, by James Cameron (20th Century Fox) Inglourious Basterds, by Quentin Tarantino (Universal) Invictus, [...]...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent Menswear fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival last September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Will fashion and films stay close together like business partners or lovers?

An article entitled Film and Fashion: Just Friends by Ruth La Ferla made some rather important observations: As an engine that drives fashion, film may have lost steam. But to fashion insiders it remains a rich and constant reference point. “What film can do better than almost anything else,” said Paulicelli, the curator, “is establish a powerful intimacy with viewers’ gaze. " Wittingly or not, those viewers take in colors, subtle...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In this series, we're listing down some very old and very new films that celebrate fashion at its finest! First on our list of 10 is The Great Gatsby:

- - -

Directed by Jack Clayton from the screenplay of Francis Ford-Coppola, The Great Gatsby (1974) tells about Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle,...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In this series, we're listing down some very old and very new films that celebrate fashion at its finest! First on our list of 10 is The Great Gatsby:

- - -

Directed by Jack Clayton from the screenplay of Francis Ford-Coppola, The Great Gatsby (1974) tells about Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle,...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In this series, we're listing down some very old and very new films that celebrate fashion at its finest! First on our list of 10 is The Great Gatsby:

- - -

Directed by Jack Clayton from the screenplay of Francis Ford-Coppola, The Great Gatsby (1974) tells about Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle,...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In this series, we're listing down some very old and very new films that celebrate fashion at its finest! First on our list of 10 is The Great Gatsby:

- - -

Directed by Jack Clayton from the screenplay of Francis Ford-Coppola, The Great Gatsby (1974) tells about Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle,...

Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In this series, we're listing down some very old and very new films that celebrate fashion at its finest! First on our list of 10 is The Great Gatsby:

- - -

Directed by Jack Clayton from the screenplay of Francis Ford-Coppola, The Great Gatsby (1974) tells about Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle,...

ROME -- Two more actors signed on to play roles in Giuseppe Tornatore's much-heralded film Baaria, the follow-up to last year's award-winning film La Sconosciuta (The Unknown Woman), bringing the cast of feature film actors to 45 -- more than any Italian film in a decade, according to local media reports.

The Sicilian saga from the Oscar-winning director of Cinema Paradiso, which is set for release in fall 2008, could involve as many as 60 feature actors and a credited cast of more than 100 when completed.