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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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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