One day after Toronto, the Venice Film Festival has announced the line-up for its eagerly 2015 celebration of cinema. Ireland is represented at this illustrious festival by Essential Killing director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Polish/Irish co-production 11 Minutes.
The film, which is backed by the Irish Film Board and Element Pictures, stars Richard Dormer (Good Vibrations, ’71, Game of Thrones) in the lead role of a film director. It follows the same 11 minutes in the lives of several different characters; young and old, prosperous and destitute. Some story elements surprisingly intertwine, others follow their own intricate rhythm. Some characters are shown just as they are about to make crucial life changing decisions, others are idly passing time, caught in the midst of their day?to?day routines. What they all have in common is an enigmatic sighting of the elusive dark spot, seen in the sky earlier that day, and the tragic chain of events that will seal their fate. What really caused it? Did all of them deserve it? Could any of them avoid it? What is the fabric of life? These lingering questions constitute the film’s underlying theme.
11 Minutes stars an ensemble of other Polish actors including Agata Buzek, Beata Tyszkiewicz and Mateusz Ko?ciukiewicz. It is produced by Ewa Piaskowska of Skopia Film and co-produced by Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney of Element Pictures.
11 Minutes will fight it out with some big names. Atom Egoyan’s eagerly anticipated Remember , Cary Fukunaga‘s Netflix bound Beasts of No Nation, Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, and Zhao Liang’s Behemoth are among the films competing for the iconic Golden Lion. The festival also features new films from Charlie Kaufman, Alexander Sokurov, Xavier Giannoli, and Marco Bellocchio.
Baltasar Kormakur’s mountain climbing adventure Everest will open the festival on September 2nd, playing out-of-competition in a slot occupied last year by Birdman, and by Gravity in 2013. The festival close with Hu Guan’s Mr. Six.
The 72nd Venice Film Festival runs September 2nd to 12th.
IN COMPETITION
Frenzy – Emin Alper (Turkey, France, Qatar)
Heart of a Dog – Laurie Anderson (USA)
Blood of My Blood – Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
Looking for Grace – Sue Brooks (Australia)
Equals – Drake Doremus (USA)
Remember – Atom Egoyan (Canada, Germany)
Beasts of No Nation – Cary Fukunaga (USA)
Per amor vostro – Giuseppe M. Gaudino (Italy, France)
Marguerite – Xavier Giannoli (France, Czech Republic, Belgium)
Rabin, the Last Day – Amos Gitai (Isreal, France)
A Bigger Splash – Luca Guadagnino (Italy, France)
The Endless River – Oliver Hermanus (South Africa, France)
The Danish Girl – Tom Hooper (UK, USA)
Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson (USA)
L’attesa – Piero Messina (Italy)
11 minutes – Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland, Ireland)
Francofonia – Aleksander Sokurov (France, Germany, Netherlands)
The Clan – Pablo Trapero (Argentina, Spain)
Desde alla – Lorenzo Vigas (Venezuela, Mexico)
L’hermine – Christian Vincent (France)
Behemoth – Zhao Liang (China, France)
OUT OF COMPETITION
Everest – Baltasar Kormakur (USA, UK) – Opening Film
Mr. Six – Hu Guan (China) – Closing Film
FICTION
Go With Me – Daniel Alfredson (USA, Canada, Sweden)
Non essere cattivo – Claudio Caligari (Italy)
Black Mass – Scott Cooper (USA)
Spotlight – Thomas McCarthy (USA)
La calle de la Amargura – Mexico Spain
The Audition – Martin Scorsese (USA)
NON-FICTION
Winter on Fire – Evgeny Afineevsky (Ukraine)
De Palma – Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow (USA)
Janis – Amy Berg (USA)
The Event – Sergei Loznitsa (Netherlands, Belgium)
Gli uomini di questa città io non li conosco – Franco Maresco (Italy)
L’esercito piu piccolo del mondo – Gianfranco Pannone (Vatican City State)
Afternoon – Tsai Ming-liang (Chinese Taipei)
In Jackson Heights – Frederick Wiseman (USA)
SPECIAL SCREENING
Human – Yann Arthus-Bertrand (France)
GOLDEN LION FOR CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
La vie et rien d’autre – Betrand Tavernier
HORIZONS
Madame Courage – Merzak Allouache (Algeria, France, U.A.E.)
A Copy of My Mind – Joko Anwar (Indonesia, South Korea)
Pecore in erba – Alberto Caviglia (Italy)
Tempete – Samuel Collardey (France)
The Childhood of a Leader – Brady Corbet (UK, Hungary, Belgium, France)
Italian Gangster – Renato De Maria (Italy)
Wednesday, May 9 – Vahid Jalilvand, Iran
Mountain – Yaelle Kayam (Israel)
A War – Tobias Lindholm (Denmark)
Interrogation – Vetri Maaran (India)
Free in Deed – Jake Mahaffy (USA, New Zealand)
Boi Neon – Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil, Uruguay, Netherlands)
Man Down – Dito Montiel (USA)
Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? – Hadar Morag (Israel, France)
Un monstruo de mil cabezas – Rodrigo Pla (Mexico)
Mate-me por favor – Anita Rocha Da Silveira (Brazil, Argentina)
Taj Mahal – Nicolas Saada (France, Belgium)
Interruption – Yorgos Zois (Greece, France, Croatia)