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Venice Film Festival · 2015

Venice Film Festival 2015

Orizzonti

These features will screen alongside a selection of short films.

Programme

19 films · 5 reviews

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An Interrogation (Visaranai)

Drama about police interrogation techniques and brutality - based on real events.

(Country: India; Year: 2015; Director: Vetrimaaran; Writer: Vetrimaaran)

The Childhood Of A Leader

Review preview for The Childhood Of A Leader

After all, what’s so sinister about reading Aesop’s Fables? Everything and nothing, Corbet suggests.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Fable about the rise of fascism set in post-First World War Europe.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Brady Corbet; Writer: Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold; Stars: Robert Pattinson, Liam Cunningham, Stacy Martin, Bérénice Bejo, Caroline Boulton, Sophie Curtis, Rebecca Dayan, Luca Bercovici, Michael Epp, Jeremy Wheeler, Scott Alexander Young, Roderick Hill, Patrick McCullough, Andrew Osterreicher)

Full review See: Brady Corbet on making audiences think, Christianity and Robert Pattinson and the culture of celebrity , Brady Corbet on history repeating itself and the look and sound of The Childhood Of A Leader , Venice Festival report: Looking For Grace, The Daughter, Equals, The Childhood Of A Leader

A Copy Of My Mind

A subtitler falls for a salon worker against the backdrop of Indonesian presidential elections.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2015; Director: Joko Anwar; Writer: Joko Anwar; Stars: Paul Agusta, Tara Basro, Ario Bayu, Chicco Jerikho, Maera Panigoro)

Free In Deed

When a single mother brings her young boy to church for healing, this lonely pentecostal minister is forced to confront the seemingly incurable illness of the child… and his own demons.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jake Mahaffy; Writer: Jake Mahaffy; Stars: Kathy Smith, Edwina Findley Dickerson, David Harewood, Porsha Ferguson, Alex Coker, Jan Falk, Jon W. Sparks, Helen Bowman, Geoff Falk, Preston Shannon)

See: Venice 2015: Jake Mahaffy talks about faith, authenticity and empathy in Free In Deed

Interruption

Adaptation of a Greek tragedy set in the modern era as life imitates art on an Athens stage.

(Country: Greece, France, Croatia; Year: 2015; Director: Yorgos Zois ; Stars: Alexandros Vardaxoglou, Maria Kallimani, Alexia Kaltsiki, Christos Stergioglou, Maria Filini )

Italian Gangsters

Documentary charting thirty years of violence legitimised by newspapers and cinema.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2015; Director: Renato De Maria; Stars: Andrea Di Casa, Paolo Mazzatelli, Luca Micheletti, Aldo Ottobrino, Sergio Romano, Francesco Sferrazza Papa )

Kill Me Please (Mate-Me Por Favor)

Review preview for Kill Me Please

Like a Brazilian Angela Carter, writer/director Anita Rocha da Silveira tells the story of a young woman emerging from a sheltered suburban world to walk a dark path, discovering the wild creature inside herself.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After an encounter with death a teenager will do anything to make sure she's alive.

(Country: Brazil, Argentina; Year: 2015; Director: Anita Rocha da Silveira; Writer: Anita Rocha da Silveira; Stars: Valentina Herszage, Dora Freind, Mariana Oliveira, Júlia Roliz, Rita Pauls, Bernardo Marinho, Gabriel Lara, Vicente Conde)

Full review

Madame Courage

Story of a drug-addicted teenager.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Merzak Allouache)

Man Down

Post-apocalyptic drama sees a Marine desperately search for his son.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Dito Montiel; Writer: Adam G Simon; Stars: Kate Mara, Jai Courtney, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Clifton Collins Jr., Jose Pablo Cantillo, Tory Kittles, Jaylen Moore, Christopher Berry, Wolé Parks, Christopher Heskey, Adrian Lockett, Ian Casselberry, Nick Jones Jr., John L. Armijo)

A Monster With A Thousand Heads (Un monstruo de mil cabezas)

A woman takes desperate measures to combat an insurance company and acquire treatment for her husband.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2015; Director: Rodrigo Plá; Writer: Laura Santullo; Stars: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Emilio Echevarría, Sebastián Aguirre, Harold Torres, Marisol Centeno, Marco Antonio Aguirre, Noé Hernández, Jana Raluy, Ivan Cortes, Úrsula Pruneda, Hugo Albores)

Mountain (Ha'har)

A devout Jewish woman finds her life begins to change after an odd encounter at a cemetery.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2015; Director: Yaelle Kayam; Writer: Yaelle Kayam; Stars: Shani Klein, Avshalom Polak)

Neon Bull

Review preview for Neon Bull

Mascaro is completely in control of his material.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Story of a bull handler who dreams of a career in the world of fashion.

(Country: Brazil, Uruguay, Netherlands; Year: 2015; Director: Gabriel Mascaro; Writer: Gabriel Mascaro; Stars: Juliano Cazarré, Maeve Jinkings, Vinícius de Oliveira, Alyne Santana, Josinaldo Alves, Carlos Pessoa, Samya De Lavor)

Full review See: Beefing up reality: Gabriel Mascaro interview about Neon Bull

Pecore In Erba

Rome-set comedy.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2015; Director: Alberto Caviglia; Writer: Alberto Caviglia; Stars: Davide Giordano, Anna Ferruzzo, Bianca Nappi, Mimosa Campironi, Lorenza Indovina, Omero Antonutti )

Taj Mahal

Thriller set against the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Nicolas Saada; Writer: Nicolas Saada; Stars: Stacy Martin, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Gina McKee, Alba Rohrwacher, Fred Epaud, Praveena Vivekananthan)

Tempête

When a sailor's young daughter falls pregnant, he faces tough choices.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Samuel Collardey; Writer: Samuel Collardey, Catherine Paillé; Stars: Dominique Leborne, Matteo Leborne, Mailys Leborne)

Tharlo

Review preview for Tharlo

Tseden takes an austere approach to framing, from the crisp black and white lensing of cinematographer Lu Songye to his long, fixed camera takes, with Tharlo almost always present.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A young shepherd has his illusions shattered after journeying to a city.

(Country: China; Year: 2015; Director: Pema Tseden; Writer: Shide Nyima, Yangshik Tso )

Full review See: Pema Tseden interview about Tharlo - Tibet, alienation and censorship , Yangshik Tso interview about Tharlo - identity, greed and working with Shide Nyima

A War (Krigen)

Review preview for A War

Morality and mayhem make uncomfortable bedfellows

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Helmand-province set drama about a Danish army company.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2015; Director: Tobias Lindholm; Writer: Tobias Lindholm; Stars: Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny, Dar Salim, Søren Malling, Charlotte Munck, Dulfi Al-Jabouri, Alex Høgh Andersen)

Full review

Wednesday, May 9 (Chaharshanbeh, 19 Ordibehesht)

An unusual advertisement in one of Tehran’s morning papers gathers a large group of people in one place. They think that what's been advertised is the only solution to their problem. The police take care of the situation by calming the people down and having them dispersed. However, two women among these people are not giving up...

(Country: Iran; Year: 2015; Director: Vahid Jalilvand; Stars: Amir Aghaei, Shahrokh Forootanian, Niki Karimi)

Why Hast Thou Foresaken Me? (Lama Azavtani)

A rejected youngster forges a friendship with an older man on the fringes of society.

(Country: Israel, France; Year: 2015; Director: Hadar Morag)