Venice at Home – Day 2: Dazzling Debuts

by Cláudio Alves

The 79th Venice Film Festival's second day was a busy one with two premieres by directors who've managed to seduce critics and the Academy alike. First, Alejandro González Iñárritu came to the Lido with his most ambitious project yet, the epic Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, whose production history is embroiled in many controversies. Then, there was also Todd Field's long-awaited return to the big screen after a decade plus sabsence. TÁR is the director's third feature and feels poised to delight actressexuals in similar ways to his debut and sophomore efforts. So far, Cate Blanchett has received nothing but glowing reviews and might become the third Field leading lady to nab an Oscar nomination.

Let's remember both directors' debuts to celebrate these buzzy premieres. Frankly, as much as I may admire some of their following efforts, Amores Perros and In the Bedroom remain my favorite titles from their filmographies…

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Venice Diary #01 - Tár, White Noise, and Princess

by Elisa Giudici

Hello readers! It's Venice time again. As with previous festivals, I'll be reviewing the movies with some festival experience details on the side. I screened three and a half movies (we'll get to the half at the end) in the first Day of the Mostra. Both the official opening night film White Noise and Princess in the Orizzonti section were a bit disappointing though both are far from failures. On the bright side, Cate Blanchett really delivers in Tár.

But first something a little spooky as Venice starts off on the wrong foot. This year Sala Darsena (the main screening room for press and industry) appears to be …cursed? During the screening of White Noise a bat (a real, actual bat!) flew in front of the screen...

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Venice at Home - Day 1: Noah Baumbach

by Cláudio Alves

Last year, The Film Experience welcomed a new series – Cannes at Home. While works by the world's greatest auteurs premiered at the Croisette, the project was an aid to combat FOMO for those not fortunate enough to attend the event. Now, it's time to introduce a new endeavor focused on the Venice Film Festival and its official selection. From August 31st to September 10th, this series will consider past works from the many filmmakers currently presenting their films in competition, offering a parallel program you can enjoy at home. At the same time, Elisa Giudici will be in Venice, updating us on the festivities.

First up, there's the opening film – White Noise. While we wait for Noah Baumbach's latest to arrive, let's recall the director's history…

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A queer-leaning Venice Critics Week

by Nathaniel R

Three Nights a Week

The titles have been announced for one of the exciting sidebars at Venice. Critics Week is for feature debuts for emerging filmmakers. That means they're eligible for the Lion of the Future prize, determined by a jury from all debuts across the festival. What's more at least three of these titles are queer films so maybe the Queer Lion will be competitive this year, too! As with the Lion of the Future prize, all sections of the festival counts so a special jury chooses The Queer Lion after screening the qualifying films (in this case anything LGBTQ themed). Venice runs August 31st through September 10th, 2022. Once again this year Elisa Giudici will be covering Venice for us...

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Venice 2022: The "Tár" Tease and the Competition Lineup

by Nathaniel R

Cate Blanchett in TÁR

Most sites just give you a list of film titles but we always aim to provide you with more information which is one of the (several) reasons we're slower with the news! Over 50% of the competition titles at Venice this year come from just three countries: France, Italy, and the US and a lot of titles are connected to Netflix. Outside of those countries we get one film from Asia, one from the Middle East, two from South America, and two from UK/Ireland. If you include the Out of Competition titles there's more variety with Canada, Denmark, Ukraine, The Phillipines, and Estonia entering the chat.

After the jump a little bit about each of the 22 films competing for the Golden Lion, and a few of the Out of Competition films including the new Lars Von Trier. Plus that bewitching teaser to Tár, Todd Field's first film in 16 years...

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