The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the "Big Five" International film festivals worldwide, which include the Big Three European Film Festivals, alongside the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada and the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. These festivals are internationally renowned for giving creators the artistic freedom to express themselves through film. In 1951, FIAPF formally accredited the festival.
Mira Nair is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, the Golden Lion–winning Monsoon Wedding, and Salaam Bombay!, which received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Kim Ki-duk was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his idiosyncratic art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit, rendering him one of the most important contemporary Asian film directors.
The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced; this is an honorary award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema.
The 64th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, from 29 August to 8 September 2007.
The Queer Lion is the trophy awarded yearly since 2007 to the “Best Movie with LGBT Themes & Queer Culture” among those presented during the Venice International Film Festival.
Khastegi is a 2008 Persian independent film written and directed by Bahman Motamedian and produced in Iran. It was shown at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in 2008.
Bahman Motamedian is an Iranian filmmaker, photographer, writer and script writer. He was born in Tehran, Iran. Motamedian belongs to the so-called "new wave" of Iranian cinema. Bahman Motamedian is also has been involved in over twenty works, including shorts film, documentaries film, video art and theater.
Motamedian made his first feature film, titled "Khastegi" in 2008. "Khastegi" was shown in the official selection of 65th Venice International Film Festival as the "surprise film" in 2008.
Luca Guadagnino is an Italian film director and producer. His films are characterized by their emotional complexity, eroticism, and lavish visuals. Guadagnino has received numerous accolades, including a Silver Lion, alongside nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards.
The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was presented with the Glory to the Film-maker award on 4 September, prior to the premiere of his upcoming film Wilde Salomé. Marco Bellocchio was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in September. The festival opened with the American film The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney, and closed with Damsels in Distress by Whit Stillman.
Giulia Marletta is an Italian-born film producer, television producer, director, and entertainment executive. She has been instrumental in establishing international financing for films in both the US and Europe. The films that she has preferred to produce have been director driven with complex and dark subject matter. During her career as a producer and executive producer, she has worked with directors including Dario Argento, David Lynch, Werner Herzog, and Al Pacino.
The Weight is a 2012 South Korean film about a hunchback mortician and his transgender stepsister.
Heartstone (Hjartasteinn) is a 2016 Icelandic drama film directed by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson. It tells the story of a strong friendship between two preteen boys in a small Icelandic fishing village and the emotional and sexual turbulence of adolescence.
Reinventing Marvin is a 2017 French drama film directed by Anne Fontaine. It screened in the Horizons section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2017, and won the Queer Lion.
The 75th Venice International Film Festival was held from 29 August to 8 September 2018.
Summer Nights is a French drama film, directed by Mario Fanfani and released in 2014. The film stars Guillaume de Tonquédec as Michel, a married man who has a secret life as a cross-dresser who goes by the drag name Mylène.
José is a Guatemalan feature-film social-drama by Li Cheng. It was first shown at the 75th Venice Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori section on 6 September 2018. It is the first Guatemala and Central America film ever presented in Venice Film Festival.
The Prince is a 2019 Chilean drama film directed by Sebastián Muñoz, and co-written by Muñoz and Luis Barrales, based on an obscure 1970s novel written by Mario Cruz. Set around 1970 in a prison cell in San Bernardo, Chile, just prior to Salvador Allende's presidency, The Prince is a dark story about affections and loyalties between prisoners, the search for sexual identity, love, violence and the rise to power behind bars.
Moffie is a 2019 biographical war romantic drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Hermanus. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, the film depicts mandatory conscription into the notorious South African Defence Force (SADF) during apartheid through the eyes of a young closeted character Nicholas van der Swart as he attempts to hide his attraction to another gay recruit in a hostile environment. The title derives from a homophobic slur in South Africa used to police masculinity.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a 2022 American biographical documentary film about photographer, artist, and activist Nan Goldin. The film is produced, co-edited and directed by Laura Poitras, and tackles Goldin's life through her advocacy during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 80's, and her fight against the Sackler family for their role in the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Poitras, a long-time friend and fan, stated that "Nan's art and vision has inspired my work for years, and has influenced generations of filmmakers."
