Venice Film Festival Lineup Announced; Features Malick, De Palma, Assayas And More

It’s really finally here guys and gals. The summer blockbuster season is on its last legs, and now, the second big fall festival has revealed part of its ever anticipated lineup, this time it being Venice’s turn.   Following the first 60+ films being announced from TIFF 2012, Venice 2012 has revealed a sizeable chunk of their slate, and it’s a doozy.

Leading the way is the Mira Nair film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which will bow as the festival’s opening film. Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder lead’s the festival’s competition slate, which features new films from Olivier Assayas (Something In The Air), Takeshi Kitano (Outrage: Beyond), Brian De Palma (Passion) and even Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers).

TIFF-approved films have a presence here, as new films from Marco Bellocchio (Dormant Beauty), Ramin Bahrani (At Any Price), Robert Redford (The Company You Keep) and Ariel Vromen (The Iceman) are all pulling double duty this fall. Other huge films debuting out of competition this year include Jonathan Demme’s Enzo Avitabile Music Life, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Penance, Spike Lee’s Bad 25, with both Liliana Cavani (Clarisse) and Michael Mann (Witness: Libya) both getting out of competition special event screenings

Personally, while this may lack the big names that TIFF so greatly features this year, this is as deep a lineup as I’ve seen in quite some time. From top to bottom, this is shaping up to be one hell of a festival, and this fall is shaping up to be the greatest season for film in years, if not decades. Here’s the full line-up.

Opening Film (Out Of Competition)
“The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” Mira Nair (U.S.,Qatar)

Competition
“To The Wonder,” Terrence Malick (U.S.)
“Something in the Air,” Olivier Assayas (France)
“Outrage:Beyond,” Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
“Fill The Void,” Rama Bursztyn and Yigal Bursztyn (Israel)
“Pieta,” Kim Ki-duk (South Korea)
“Dormant Beauty,” Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
“E’ stato il figlio,” Daniele Cipri (Italy)
“At Any Price,” Ramin Bahrani (US, UK)
“La Cinquieme Saison,” Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth (Belgium, Netherlands, France)
“Un Giorno Speciale, ” Francesca Comencini (Italy)
“Passion,” Brian De Palma (France, Germany)
“Superstar, ” Xavier Giannoli (France, Belgium)
“Spring Breakers,” Harmony Korine (US)
“Thy Womb,” Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)
“Linhas de Wellington,” Valeria Sarmiento (Portugal, France)
“Paradise: Faith,” Ulrich Seidl (Austria, France, Germany)
“Betrayal,” Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)

Out Of Competition
“L’homme qui rit,” Jean-Pierre Ameris (France-Czech Republic)
“Love Is All You Need,” Susanne Bier (Denmark-Sweden)
“Cherchez Hortense”, Pascal Bonitzer (France)
“Sur un fil’¦,” Simon Brook (France-Italy)
“Enzo Avitabile Music Life,” Jonathan Demme (Italy-US)
“Tai Chi 0,” Stephen Fung (China)
“Lullaby To My Father,” Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Switzerland)
“Penance” (Shokuzai), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)
“Bad 25,” Spike Lee (US)
“O Gebo e a Sombra,” Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal-France)
“The Company You Keep,” Robert Redford (US)
“Shark (Bait 3D),” Kimble Rendall (Australia-Singapore-China)
“Disconnect,” Henry-Alex Rubin (US)
“The Iceman,” Ariel Vromen (US)

Out Of Competition: Special Events
“Anton’s Right Here” dir Lyubov Arkus (Russia)
“It Was Better Tomorrow” dir Hinde Boujemaa (Tunisia)
“Clarisse,” Liliana Cavani (Italy)
“Sfiorando il muro,” Silvia Giralucci and Luca Ricciardi (Italy)
“Carmel,” Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Italy)
“El impenetrable,” Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini (Argentina-France)
“Witness: Libya,” Michael Mann (US)
“Medici con l’Africa,” Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
“La nave dolce,” Daniele Vicari (Italy-Albania)

Orrizonti (Horizons)
“Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia-Germany)
“The Paternal House,” Kianoosh Ayari (Iran)
“I Also Want It”, Alexey Balabanov (Russia)
“Gli Equilibristi,” Ivano De Matteo (Italy-France)
“L’intervallo,” Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy-Switzerland-Germany)
“Winter of Discontent,” Ibrahim El Batout (Egypt)
“Tango Libre,” Frederic Fonteyne (Belgium-France-Luxembourg)
“The Cutoff Man”, dir Idan Hubel (Israel)
“Fly With The Crane,” Li Ruijun (China)
“A Hijacking,” Tobias Lindholm (Denmark)
“Leones,” Jazmin Lopez (Argentina-France-Netherlands)
“Bellas Mariposas,” Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
“Low Tide,” Roberto Minervini (US-Italy-Belgium)
“Boxing Day,” Bernard Rose (UK-US)
“Yema,” Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-France)
“Araf – Somewhere In Between,” Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey-France-Germany)
“The Millennial Rapture,” Koji Wakamatsu (Japan)
“Three Sisters,” Wang Bing (France-Hong Kong-China)

Source Venice