Venice Diary #10 - Saints and martyrs

by Elisa Giudici

It's the last full day of Venice with the awards about to be announced as you're reading this... or maybe they've already been announced depending on when you clicked over. Yesterday, I was chatting with some Italian colleagues. Our country's films in competition ranged from distinctive to very good. We were quite proud... but then two more Italian films arrived and some of us had to rethink our position.

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Emmy Category Analysis: Outstanding Comedy Series

By: Christopher James

Eight comedy series compete for the prize of Outstanding Comedy Series.

There’s something for everyone in this season’s Comedy Series race. We once again have a major network TV sitcom fighting against a gaggle of streamers and premium cable offerings. A network sitcom hasn’t won this prize since Modern Family won it for five consecutive years from 2010-2014. Could Abbott Elementary break the drought? Meanwhile, a couple of former winners are looking to defend or reclaim their titles...

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Venice at Home: Day 10 – The Artist Is (Not) Present

by Cláudio Alves

Well, it's time to say goodbye to the Venice at Home project. Maybe it'll return next year as other cinephiles flood the Lido and those of us who don't share in the FOMO.  There are three remaining directors in the official competition. First, Jafar Panahi, incarcerated since earlier this year but no less capable of dazzling cinephiles with his political, profoundly personal work. No Bears sounds like another triumph. Also vying for the honor is Susanna Nicchiarelli, whose Chiara completes an unofficial trilogy about historical women (Miss Marx and Nico, 1988 also screened at Venice). Finally, Roschdy Zem jumps behind the camera after having graced festival audiences with his acting in Other People's Children. For Les Miens he does triple duty as star, director, and screenwriter.

This miniseries was always intended to celebrate great artists, so it's fitting that the last three films are about them as we focus on an Iranian filmmaker (This is Not a Film), a German singer (Nico, 1988), and a French clown (Chocolat) of Afro-Cuban heritage… 

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5 more countries name their Oscar submissions

by Nathaniel R

Real life multi-lingual Portuguese twins play mute twins in Albania's entry

Chart update time yet again. We have five more entries for Best International Feature Film from Algeria, Hungary, Slovenia, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Only one of the submitted directors has been sent to the Oscars before so it's mostly young(ish) filmmakers in this block of contenders...

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Venice Diary #9 - "Blonde"

by Elisa Giudici

Today was Blonde day, at least until one of the most iconic royal figure from the last century died, stealing attention and coverage away from Venice movies and all other events. Considering the reviews for the biopic (and the spike in views The Crown will get), Netflix should probably be relieved. So for today's diary, a controversial take on the life and death of Marilyn Monroe and two movies that reiterate how healthy French cinema is.

BLONDE by Andrew Dominik
Overlong, indulgent and hyper-focused on the most tragic aspects of the life of Marilyn Monroe, Blonde as a biopic is a thanks but no thanks...

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