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Venice Film Festival · 2019

Venice Film Festival 2019

Orizzonti

Programme

19 films · 5 reviews

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Atlantis

Review preview for Atlantis

A film full of despair and tortured masculinity.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
In a near-future war-torn Ukraine a man with PTSD takes a volunteer job exhuming the dead.

(Country: Ukraine; Year: 2019; Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Writer: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Stars: Andriy Rymaruk, Liudmyla Bileka, Vasyl Antoniak)

Full review

Back Home (Revenir)

Part road-trip, part memoir, part journalistic investigation, the film follows a refugee from the Ivory Coast now living in France, as he returns to the African continent and attempts to retrace the same journey that he himself took when forced to flee civil war in his country … But this time with a camera in his hand.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Jessica Palud; Writer: Serge Joncour, Philippe Lioret, Jessica Palud; Stars: Niels Schneider, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Roman Coustère Hachez, Patrick d'Assumçao, Hélène Vincent)

Balloon (Qiqui)

A Tibetan family's peaceful life is stirred up by a condom.

(Country: China; Year: 2019; Director: Pema Tseden; Stars: Sonan Wangmo, Jinpa, Yangshik Tso)

The Criminal Man (Borotmokmedi)

A man's life is thrown into turmoil after he witnesses the killing of a famous goalie.

(Country: Georgia, Russia; Year: 2019; Director: Dmitry Mamuliya; Writer: Archil Kikodze, Dmitry Mamuliya; Stars: Natalia Jugheli, Vladimer Kobakhidze, Vasilisa Zemskova, Giorgi Petriashvili, Goderdzi Liparteliani, Nukri Revishvili, Madona Chachkhiani, Anna Talakvadze, Natalia Jugheli, Vladimer Kobakhidze, Vasilisa Zemskova, Giorgi Petriashvili, Goderdzi Liparteliani, Nukri Revishvili, Madona Chachkhiani)

Giants Being Lonely

Three teens find themselves on a treacherous path towards adulthood.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Grear Patterson; Writer: Grear Patterson, Grear Patterson, Sam Stillman; Stars: Alejandro Castro Arias, Amalia Culp, Gabe Fazio, Lily Gavin, Ben Irving, Jack Irving, Stella Schnabel, Joey Thurmond, Alejandro Castro Arias, Amalia Culp, Gabe Fazio, Lily Gavin, Ben Irving, Jack Irving, Stella Schnabel)

Hava, Maryam, Ayesha

Drama about three Afghan women from different social background, living in Kabul. Hava, a pregnant woman, an educated news reporter, and Ayesha, a teenager who has to regain her virginity...

(Country: Afghanistan; Year: 2019; Director: Sahraa Karimi; Stars: Fereshta Afshar, Arezoo Ariapoor, Hasiba Ebrahimi, Fereshta Afshar, Arezoo Ariapoor, Hasiba Ebrahimi)

Just 6.5 (Metri Shesho Nim)

Review preview for Just 6.5

All its genre elements are the neat packaging for some grim state-of-the-nation commentary, showing an aspect of Iranian society that is seldom explored on film.

Anton Bitel · 3 out of 5
Action film sees a young cop take on a drug lord.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2019; Director: Saeed Roustaee; Writer: Saeed Roustaee; Stars: Payman Maadi, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Parinaz Izadyar, Farhad Aslani, Hooman Kiaie)

Full review

Madre

It has been ten years since Elena received a telephone call from her six-year old son, Ivan, telling her that he was lost on a beach in France and couldn’t find his father. That was the last Elena ever heard of her only child. Now Elena lives near that same beach, working at a nearby restaurant, and is finally emerging from the darkness her life has been shrouded in for so many years. But her life is thrown into turmoil when she meets a teenager who reminds her of her son.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2019; Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Writer: Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Stars: Marta Nieto, Anne Consigny, Alex Brendemühl, Raúl Prieto, Frédéric Pierrot, Álvaro Balas, Blanca Apilánez, Jules Porier, Marta Nieto, Anne Consigny, Alex Brendemühl, Raúl Prieto, Frédéric Pierrot, Álvaro Balas, Blanca Apilánez)

Moffie

Review preview for Moffie

Brummer is the perfect choice to play Nick.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Drama following a conscript through his military service in the South African Defence Force in the 1980s.

(Country: South Africa, UK; Year: 2019; Director: Oliver Hermanus; Writer: Oliver Hermanus, Jack Sidey; Stars: Matt Ashwell, Kai Luke Brummer, Ryan de Villiers, Hilton Pelser, Shaun Chad Smit, Stefan Vermaak, Matthew Vey, Matt Ashwell, Kai Luke Brummer, Ryan de Villiers, Hilton Pelser, Shaun Chad Smit, Stefan Vermaak, Matthew Vey)

Full review

My Days Of Glory (Mes Jours De Gloire)

A man who was a child star falls on hard times and is forced to go back to living with his parents. Can he stop his life and career declining further?

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Antoine de Bary; Writer: Elias Belkeddar, Antoine de Bary; Stars: Noée Abita, Damien Chapelle, Emmanuelle Devos, Vincent Furic, Vincent Lacoste, Christopher Lambert, Pierre Léon Luneau)

Nevia

A rebellious teenager views the arrival of a circus as an opportunity for change.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2019; Director: Nunzia De Stefano; Stars: Pietro Ragusa, Gianfranco Gallo, Pietro Ragusa, Gianfranco Gallo)

Pelican Blood (Pelikanblut)

The desperate struggle of a mother for her emotionally injured adoptive daughter leads to an extreme decision.

(Country: Germany, Bulgaria; Year: 2019; Director: Katrin Gebbe; Writer: Katrin Gebbe; Stars: Nina Hoss, Yana Marinova, Daniela Holtz, Sebastian Rudolph, Murathan Muslu, Samia Muriel Chancrin, Sophie Pfennigstorf, Katerina Lipovska, Dimitar Banenkin, Katinka Auberger, Christoph Jacobi, Adelia-Constance Ocleppo, Ryan Rafferr, Justine Hirschfeld, Nina Hoss)

Rialto

A man who is suffering a family and work crisis becomes infatuated with a young man from whom he solicits sex.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2019; Director: Peter Mackie Burns; Writer: Mark O'Halloran; Stars: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Tom Glynn-Carney, Monica Dolan, Sophie Jo Wasson, Scott Graham, Michael Smiley, Eileen Walsh, Deirdre Donnelly, Deirdre Molloy, Kervin Soobrayen, Alexandra Smith, Jane McGrath, Pom Boyd, Pat McGrath, Ger Ryan)

Shadow Of Water (Chola)

An adolescent school girl and her teenage lover set out for a journey to the city. They are accompanied by a stranger, much to the dismay of the girl.

(Country: India; Year: 2019; Director: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan; Writer: KV Manikandan, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan; Stars: Akhil Viswanath, Joju George, Nimisha Sajayan, Akhil Viswanath, Joju George, Nimisha Sajayan)

Sole

A heavily pregnant woman plans to use a legal loophole to sell her unborn baby, forcing her to pretend to be in a relationship with a stranger that begins to morph into something more profound.

(Country: Italy, Poland; Year: 2019; Director: Carlo Sironi; Writer: Antonio Manca, Giulia Moriggi, Carlo Sironi; Stars: Barbara Ronchi, Vitaliano Trevisan, Sandra Drzymalska, Bruno Buzzi, Claudio Segaluscio, Marco Felli, Barbara Ronchi, Vitaliano Trevisan, Sandra Drzymalska, Bruno Buzzi, Claudio Segaluscio, Marco Felli)

A Son (Bik Eneich: Un Fils)

Review preview for A Son

There is a lot going on here on both a family and a political level, but Barsaoui sensibly avoids spelling things out letter by letter.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
After a child is shot and needs a transplant, a family secret is exposed.

(Country: Qatar, Lebanon, France, Tunisia; Year: 2019; Director: Mehdi Barsaoui; Writer: Mehdi Barsaoui; Stars: Sami Bouajila, Najla Ben Abdallah)

Full review

Verdict

No plot details are available.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2019; Director: Raymund Ribay Gutierrez; Writer: Raymund Ribay Gutierrez; Stars: Kristoffer King, Max Eigenmann, Jordhen Suan, Rene Durian, Kristoffer King, Max Eigenmann, Jordhen Suan, Rene Durian)

White On White (Blanco En Blanco)

Review preview for White On White

Court is diligent in his management of movement, with the most vulnerable characters almost static unless physically moved by others, as if they were mere props.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A man hired to photograph a wedding at an estate seized from indigenous people becomes obsessed with the bride to be after discovering she is underage.

(Country: Spain, Chile, France, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Théo Court; Writer: Théo Court, Samuel M. Delgado; Stars: Alfredo Castro, Lars Rudolph, David Pantaleón, Lola Rubio, Alfredo Castro, Lars Rudolph, David Pantaleón, Lola Rubio)

Full review

Zumiriki

Details as soon as we have them.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Oskar Alegria)