(Tun-Fr-It-Saudi-Qat) Mehdi Barsaoui is the second feature from Tunisian director Barsaoui, whose debut was a best actor prize-winner for Sami Bouajila in Horizons 2019. The filmmaker’s latest centres on a woman who tries to start a new life in Tunis after surviving an accident, but her new identity is compromised when she becomes the main witness to a police mistake. The international co-production includes Tunisia’s Cinétélefilms, Saudi Arabia’s CineWave Films, France’s 13 Prods and Italy’s Dorje Film.
(S Afr) Jason Jacobs, Devon Delma South African drama has a close association with Venice, having participated in last year’s Final Cut In Venice lab. Set in a rural South African community, the film focuses on the title character’s realisation that a career opportunity at a new luxury golf estate will involve building over her estranged grandfather’s rooibos tea farm. Produced by Deidre Jantjies and Annemarie Du Plessis, has also been through New York’s Gotham Film Week, Rotterdam’s CineMart and its homeland market, Durban FilmMart.
, Reason8 Films (It) Francesco Costabile Costabile’s debut, Calabrian mafia drama , played in the Berlinale’s Panorama in 2022. Venice has followed suit, programming the director’s follow-up in its parallel Horizons competition. The story of a son’s rebellion against an abusive father is based on the autobiography of former skinhead Luigi Celeste.
producers are Tramp Limited, Indigo Film and O’Groove, while Medusa handles Italian distribution , True Colours (US) Sarah Friedland The coming-of-age feature from filmmaker and choreographer Friedland centres on an elderly woman who contemplates her identity on moving into an assisted-living facility. Friedland’s debut feature went through the Berlinale Talent Scripts Station/Project Lab and is produced by Friedland, Alexandra Byer of New York-based Rathaus Films and Matthew Thurm. Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle and Andy McQueen star.
(It) Valerio Mastandrea By now a veteran of the Italian scene, recently seen alongside Toni Servillo and Pierfrancesco Favino in crime drama , Roman actor Mastandrea turns director for the second time (after 2018’s ). He also stars in this tragicomic hospital yarn, as a long-term patient for whom the ward is a refuge from life’s cares and responsibilities. Among the producers for this Horizons opener (Italian title translates as ‘Notwithstanding’ or ‘Despite’) is leading Italian actress/director Valeria Golino, while the music is from Icelandic composer Toti Gudnason (2021’s ).
(Pal-Fr-Ger-It-Qat) Scandar Copti Palestinian filmmaker Copti’s 2009 feature debut , co-directed with Yaron Shani, picked up a Camera d’Or special mention at Cannes and went on to be nominated for the best foreign-language feature Oscar. Copti’s second feature sees a minor accident in contemporary Jerusalem set off a chain of events that sow division. It is produced by Germany’s Red Balloon Film, France’s Tessalit Productions, Italy’s Intramovies and Palestine’s Fresco Films.
(Japan-US) Neo Sora This surveillance drama marks the feature fiction debut of Sora, who was at Venice in 2023 with , a concert film featuring his late musician father. Hayato Kurihara and Yukito Hidaka star as two high-schoolers in a near-future Tokyo who pull a prank that leads to increased surveillance at their school. It is produced by Zakkubalan, Cineric Creative, Cinema Inutile and Giraffe Pictures.
Bitters End will open the film in Japan on October 5. Magnify has sales rights outside Japan and Singapore. (Sp) Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi Garaño and Arregi directed San Sebastian premieres (2019) and (2017).
The pair’s latest stars Eduard Fernandez as Enric Marco, a controversial Spanish Catalan trade unionist who falsely claimed internment in Nazi concentration camps. Producers include Xabier Berzosa for Moriarti, the company Garaño and Arregi were part of founding in 2001. (US-China) Elizabeth Lo This documentary follows a case of infidelity as a wife hires a ‘mistress dispeller’, a growing profession in China, to break up her husband’s affair and save her own marriage.
Debuting in Venice before heading to Toronto, the film is backed by Anonymous Content and Impact Partners and produced by Emma D Miller of SXSW 2022 award winner and Shanghai-based Maggie Li, co‐producer of 2022 Oscar-nominated documentary . Director Lo’s debut feature premiered at Tribeca in 2020 and won best international feature at Hot Docs. (Fr) Anne-Sophie Bailly France’s Bailly makes her feature debut with a family-focused drama starring Laure Calamy as a woman whose relationship with her adult son with intellectual disabilities is tested when she discovers he has made his disabled co-worker pregnant.
Calamy stars opposite a cast of actors with disabilities. The film is produced by David Thion’s Les Films Pelléas, whose credits include Palme d’Or and Oscar winner . , Les Films du Losange (Rom-Ser) Bogdan Muresanu Six lives become intertwined in Romania as political tensions rise in Muresanu’s debut feature, set a day before the 1989 Romanian revolution begins.
The tragicomedy is produced by Kinotopia and co-produced by Romania’s public television service TVR and Chainsaw Europe. Significant financial support has come from the Romanian Film Centre and Creative Europe Media. The cast is led by Adrian Vancica, who also starred in Muresanu’s (best short at the 2019 European Film Awards).
, Cercamon (It-UK) Giovanni Tortorici A curious and restless 19-year-old student is on a path of self-discovery, travelling and studying between London and Italy in the debut feature of Italy’s Tortorici, who was a trainee assistant director on Luca Guadagnino’s TV series . Guadagnino (in Venice with Competition title ) is a producer on the project, as are Agustina Costa Varsi and Marco Morabito for Frenesy Film Company and Paula Vaccaro and Aaron Brookner for Pinball London. The cast includes Manfredi Marini and Vittoria Planeta.
(Isr-It) Dani Rosenberg Rosenberg’s third feature is set in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks, as a girl returns to her kibbutz to look for her dog and must navigate the horrors that occurred. It filmed on location in October-November 2023 immediately after the attacks, with a small crew, mostly improvised dialogue and no constructed sets. Alexander Rodnyansky produces for his US firm AR Content, with Itai Tamir of Israel’s Laila Films and Donatella Palermo of Italy’s Stemal Entertainment.
Rosenberg’s previous feature, 2023’s , was nominated for 11 Israeli Film Academy awards, winning best cinematography. , Rai Cinema International Distribution (Turkey) Murat Firatoglu The feature debut of Turkey’s Firatoglu — who also stars, writes and produces — took part in Sarajevo’s Cinelink work-in-progress strand last year, winning the post-production award and completing its post in Germany. The film centres on seasonal farm worker Eyüp, who sets out to kill his foreman Hemme after not receiving his daily wage, but his commitment to the grisly task is weakened by the people he meets during the day.
Firatoglu, who lives in Istanbul and works as a lawyer, funded the film with debts and loans from family and friends. (US) Alex Ross Perry One of the most iconic bands of the US indie rock movement, Stephen Malkmus’s Pavement gets the documentary treatment from Perry in what is described as a scripted hybrid that shows the band preparing for its 2022 comeback tour and other projects. The band members appear alongside actor and musician Joe Keery (aka Djo) and Jason Schwartzman.
Alldayeveryday and Pulse Films are among the producers. Perry directed Pavement’s ‘Harness Your Hopes’ music video in 2022 and his features include and . (Nepal-US-Nor) Deepak Rauniyar Nepalese director Rauniyar, whose feature debut won the Interfilm award in Horizons 2016, returns to the festival strand with a crime thriller inspired by events that took place during 2015 race protests in Nepal.
The story revolves around a female detective inspector who faces down discrimination and misogyny to investigate the case of two kidnapped boys. Aadi Films, Tannhauser Gate and Baasuri Films produce. After , Rauniyar directed 16-minute drama , which premiered in the Berlinale’s shorts competition in 2022.
, Trigon Films (Fr-Ger-Swe-Greece-Est-Fin) Alexandros Avranas Greece’s Avranas won awards for his Venice 2013 thriller , including the Silver Lion for best director. In his latest, a refugee family in Sweden have their resilience tested when the youngest daughter falls into a mysterious coma and their asylum application is rejected. is produced by French outfits Les Films du Worso and Elle Driver with Germany’s Senator Film, Greece’s Playground and Asterisk, Estonia’s Amrion Production, Sweden’s Fox In The Snow Films and Finland’s Making Movies.
(Fr-Belg) Carine Tardieu Tardieu’s fifth feature is a drama about different ways to create a family. It follows an independent feminist librarian who has opted not to become a mother but bonds with her neighbours: a young single father and his child. The film (French title ) stars Pio Marmaï, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Raphaël Quenard and Vimala Pons.
Tardieu reteams with Karé Productions after 2021 Rome premiere and 2017 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight entry . , Studiocanal (It-Cro-Austria-Slovakia-Czech) Peter Kerekes Slovakian director Kerekes returns to Venice after winning the Horizons 2021 best screenplay award for . Shot in Italy, follows an astrologer and her clients as they go to specific destinations on their birthdays, hoping their dreams will come true.
Videomante (Italy), Artcam Films (Czech Republic), Kerekes Films (Slovakia), Mischief Films (Austria), Restart (Croatia) and Volos Films (Italy) are producers, with financial support including Creative Europe Media and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund. , Films Boutique Horizons Extra (Czech) Vojtech Strakaty The young Czech filmmaker’s feature debut centres on a woman thrown into chaos when her father’s debts see their house repossessed and she must choose between saving her parent or herself. Produced by Marek Novak from Xova Films and co-produced by i/o post, Studio BEEP and Ceska Televize, is funded primarily by the Czech Film Fund.
Newcomer Eliska Basusova stars alongside Anna Tomanova and Jan Zadrazil. , Film Republic (Ger-Turkey) Türker Süer Set in 2016, during the attempted coup in Turkey, Cologne-born Süer’s feature debut stars actor Ahmet Rifat Sungar as a lieutenant juggling loyalty to the state or his own family. It is produced by The Match Factory and co-produced by Liman Film, and participated in the 2023 European Work in Progress event in Cologne (under the title ).
Süer has made several shorts and was selected for the 2006 edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus. (US) John Swab James Badge Dale plays a police officer and Ben Foster is an Irish mob boss in this crime thriller about an Oklahoma cop who takes on those responsible for his son’s fentanyl addiction. Melissa Leo, George Carroll and Michael Mando also star.
Production took place in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jeremy M Rosen of Roxwell Films produces and Ali Jazayeri and Viviana Zarragoitia of Three Point Capital executive produce. Swab directed Rotterdam 2023 selection and Locarno 2022 entry .
(Fr) Frédéric Farrucci France’s Farrucci, whose 2019 debut played festivals in his home country, makes his A-list festival debut with this crime drama about a Corsican shepherd (Alexis Manenti) on the run after killing a mobster who tried to intimidate him into giving up the land for a real-estate project. Farrucci reteams with producer Koro Films, and Ad Vitam distributes in France. (Egy-Saudi) Khaled Mansour The first Egyptian film to play at Venice for 12 years, is director Mansour’s feature debut.
The drama about a man who goes on a journey to save his best friend — titular dog Rambo — is produced by Egypt’s Mohamed Hefzy through Film Clinic and critic and programmer Rasha Hosny in her feature producing debut. has taken part in several film financing forums and development labs, and has received grants from Red Sea Film Fund, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and the CineGouna Platform, among others. , Film Clinic Indie Distribution Worldwide (Ger) Tim Fehlbaum Opening Horizons Extra is Switzerland-born Fehlbaum’s follow-up to 2021’s , winner of several German Film Awards.
Set during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, follows US sports broadcasters as Israeli athletes are taken hostage by terrorist group Black September. The cast includes Peter Sarsgaard (Venice 2023 best actor winner for ), John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Benesch. Sean Penn is among the producers along with BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion and Projected Picture Works, in co-production with Constantin Film and ERF Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion.
Paramount’s Republic Pictures has global rights outside of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. , Republic Pictures (It-Switz) Paola Randi Randi has moved across genres since her 2010 debut , which premiered in Venice’s short-lived Controcampo Italiano sidebar. She co-penned the script of this Milan-set coming-of-age drama with Valia Santella, an experienced screenwriter who specialises in collaborations with writer/directors — among them Marco Bellocchio and Nanni Moretti.
Tracking the self-affirmation of three suburban teenagers united by complex bonds of love and friendship, Randi’s latest feature is co-produced by Fandango (which distributes at home) with Rai Cinema and Switzerland’s Spotlight Media. (It) Alessandro Cassigoli, Casey Kauffman Italian documentary director Cassigoli and US news reporter and cameraman Kauffman met when they shared a flat in Florence. The entwining of their work and lives became the subject of the pair’s 2017 debut .
The tough Neapolitan satellite town of Torre Annunziata has been the setting of all three of their features since then, including adoption saga , which like (2018), welds a scripted drama onto the true story of its lead actress. impressed Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti enough to step in as co-producer. , Intramovies (Ger-Austria) Nader Saeivar Iranian director Saeivar’s third feature — following (aka , 2020) and (2022) — tells the story of a widow who witnesses the murder of her friend by a government figure.
She risks her life to go public after police refuse to investigate. The Farsi- and Azerbaijani-language film reunites Jafar Panahi and Saeivar as co-writers, after the duo won Cannes’ best screenplay award in 2018 with . Producers are ArtHood Films, Golden Girls and Sky Films.
, ArtHood Entertainment.
