THR: Venice unveils 2010 competition lineup
Published on: 29th July, 2010
Director lineup is youngest ever in the history of the festival
Sofia Coppola’s comedic drama "Somewhere" and "Road to
Nowhere," a romantic thriller from veteran director Monte Hellman,
were among the highlights of the main competition lineup for the
67th Venice Film Festival, which was released Thursday.
Other in-competition films include Vincent Gallo’s "Promises
Written in Water"; "Meek’s Cutoff," a western from Kelly Reichardt;
and Athina Racehel Tsangari’s drama "Attenberg."
Artistic director Marco Mueller said that — notwithstanding the
presence of the 78-year-old Hellman — the competition lineup was
the youngest ever in the storied history of the festival, with the
average age among the directors of the 22 in-competition films just
47.
"I think this is evidence of a new and dynamic kind of cinema that
is being produced," Mueller told a standing-room-only crowd of
reporters and industry players at Rome’s Excelsior Hotel Thursday.
All told, the festival will include 79 world premieres, including
the entire in-competition lineup for the fourth time in five
years.
The out-of-competition lineup had its share of highlights as well,
with brothers Ben and Casey Affleck both appearing with directorial
efforts — Ben with "The Town," a crime thriller, and Casey with
"I’m Still Here," a documentary about actor Joaquim Phoenix, who is
Casey Affleck’s brother in law. It will be the directorial debut
for the younger Affleck.
Venerable Italian directors Marco Bellocchio and Michele Placido
return to the Lido with "Sorrelle Mai" and "Vallanzasca – Gli
angeli del male," respectively, and Dennis Hopper’s "The Last
Movie," the actor’s 1971 directorial follow-up to "Easy Rider,"
will screen as an unofficial homage to the actor, who died in May
at the age of 74.
Two films that were rumored to screen on the Lido but were not in
the announcement were Anton Corbijn’s thriller "The American,"
which stars Venice regular George Clooney in the main role, and
Terrence Malick’s "The Tree of Life."
Mueller said that because "The American," which was filmed in
Italy, is scheduled to open in the U.S. Sept. 1, the same day the
festival opens, it would have to screen as the festival’s opening
night film. But organizers instead selected Darren Aronofsky’s
"Black Swan" for that honor. No explanation was given for the
exclusion of Malick’s 1950s-era coming of age story, but there was
speculation that the film could still screen as the festival’s
traditional "surprise" in-competition film, which is usually
unveiled during the festival.
As usual, Italian films were the best represented in the overall
lineup, with 41 full length features. But U.S. productions were
second, with 19, followed by France with 11 and Japan and China
with 7 each. A total of 34 countries are represented with at least
one official screening, including the Dominican Republic, which
will see a film screen on the Venice Lido for the first time ever
in "Jean Gentil," a film about neighboring Haiti that will screen
in the Orizzonti sidebar.
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THR: Venice unveils 2010 competition lineup
