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Venice Film Festival · 2020

Venice Film Festival 2020

Venice Days

Programme

5 films · 4 reviews

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200 Meters

Review preview for 200 Meters

Although the shift in the film's gears isn't exactly smooth, it's an ambitious idea for a first-time filmmaker and Nayfeh brings home the sharp reality of the smuggling business.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A man from the West Bank finds himself taking the smuggling route to Israel to be with his family.

(Country: Palestine; Year: 2020; Director: Ameen Nayfeh; Writer: Ameen Nayfeh; Stars: Ali Suliman, Anna Unterberger, Motaz Malhees, Lana Zreik, Gassan Abbas, Ali Suliman, Anna Unterberger, Motaz Malhees, Lana Zreik, Gassan Abbas)

Full review

Conference

A nun is sent to Moscow to organise a memorial evening 17 years after a terror attack, through the course of the film we learn the details of her personal story.

(Country: Russia, Estonia, United Kingdom, Italy; Year: 2020; Director: Ivan I Tverdovskiy; Writer: Ivan I Tverdovskiy; Stars: Filipp Avdeev, Natalya Tsvetkova, Natalya Pavlenkova, Natalya Potapova, Yan Tsapnik, Aleksandr Zlatopolskiy, Natalya Batrak, Olga Lapshina, Anna Slyu, Aleksandr Semchev, Kseniya Zueva, Oleg Feoktistov, Aleksandr Golubkov, Roman Shmakov, Elena Nesterova)

The New Gospel (Das Neue Evangelium)

Review preview for The New Gospel

Documentarian Milo Rau's hybrid feature is part passion play and part call for compassion.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Hybrid documentary about the life of Jesus and the current struggles of migrant workers in Italy.

(Country: Germany, Switzerland, Italy; Year: 2020; Director: Milo Rau; Writer: Milo Rau; Stars: Yvan Sagnet, Maia Morgenstern, Enrique Irazoqui, Marcello Fonte, Yvan Sagnet, Maia Morgenstern, Enrique Irazoqui, Marcello Fonte)

Full review

Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time

Review preview for Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time

Calling it a plain melodrama would be reductive for such a thrilling piece of cinema.

Georgiana Musat · 4 out of 5
A lonely neurosurgeon falls in love but when she moves to Budapest to be with him, the love of her life says they've never met before.

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2020; Director: Lili Horvát; Writer: Lili Horvát; Stars: Natasa Stork, Viktor Bodó, Benett Vilmányi, Zsolt Nagy, Péter Tóth, Andor Lukáts, Attila Mokos, Linda Moshier, Júlia Ladányi, Réka Pelsöczy, Anna Kis, Ernö Sebö, Viktória Végvári, Ádám Bethlenfalvy, János Nemes)

Full review

The Whaler Boy (Kitoboy)

Review preview for The Whaler Boy

All the while, Yuryev keeps us married to Leshka's experience, even flipping us over to view the world in the same topsy-turvy way he does.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A teenager embarks on an unexpected journey after becoming obsessed with an erotic webcam girl.

(Country: Russia, Poland, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Philipp Yuryev; Writer: Philipp Yuryev; Stars: Vladimir Onokhov, Kristina Asmus, Vladimir Lyubimtsev, Nikolay Tatato, Arieh Worthalter, Maria Chuprinskaia)

Full review