Newly completed feature and medium length films, from the official line-up and the collateral sections of the festival, currently without world sales representation. 

Synopsis supplied by current rights holders.

In order of Programme Section:

OUT OF COMPETITION

IL SIGNOR ROTPETER / MR. ROTPETER

37’

Director: Antonietta De Lillo

Country of Origin: Italy

Production Company: marechiarofilm (Italy)

Contact Person: Alice Mariani (marechiarofilm)

Telephone: +39 3336888726

Email / Website: a.mariani@marechiarofilm.com / www.marechiarofilm.it

Territories available: All

Synopsis: In 1917, a short story by Franz Kafka appeared in a magazine. It was called “A Report

to an Academy”, the story of Mr. Rotpeter, a monkey who transformed into a man. During his

academics report, Mr. Rotpeter talks about his metamorphosis. Through her peculiar narration,

Antonietta De Lillo imagines a “Neapolitan” Mr. Rotpeter: he walks through the streets of Naples,

in Molosiglio’s gardens, he climbs the stairs of the prestigious University of Naples Federico II, he

observes families playing on the grass on a Sunday morning in Capodimonte’s wood.

PIAZZA VITTORIO

82’

Director: Abel Ferrara

Country of Origin: Italy

Production Company: ENJOY MOVIES srl (Italy)

Contact Person: Manfredi Saavedra (Enjoy Movies)

Telephone: +39 3337126884

Email / Website: manfredi.saavedra@moliwoodfilms.com

Territories available: All

Synopsis: Piazza Vittorio is the largest Roman piazza. It is distinguished by the multiethnic

variety of its inhabitants. In fact, we find a set of close and far-away ethnicities: they make the

square and the lively neighbourhood, but are at the same time difficult to manage. Because of its

unique and colourful nature, it is the residence of many artists. One of these is Master Abel

Ferrara, who has decided to illustrate this world with his independent and poetic vision.

VENICE CLASSICS: Documentaries

THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK

82’

Director: Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski

Country of Origin: Poland

Production Company: Film Art Production (Poland), Kundschafter Filmproduktion

(Germany), zero one film (Germany).

Contact person: Matthias Miegel (Kundschafter Filmproduktion)

Telephone: +491772503504

Email / Website: mm@kundschafterfilm.de / http://www.kundschafterfilm.de/

Territories available: All except Poland and German-speaking countries.

Synopsis: A cinematic journey on the trail of a mysterious filmmaker. Michal Waszynski, the top

director in pre-war Poland and later an influential figure of the Italian film industry. He worked

together with Orson Welles, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, but the most spectacular movie he

made was out of his own life. He was a real chameleon, who with the help of the magical invention

of cinema continually changed his identity. Those who had the chance to meet him remembered

Waszynski as an aristocrat, a liar, an eternally homeless Jew, as well as a homosexual married to an

Italian countess.

AÑOS LUZ / LIGHT YEARS

70’

Director: Manuel Abramovich

Country of Origin: Argentina

Production Company: Rei Cine (Argentina), Bananeira Filmes (Brazil), El Deseo (Spain),

Patagonik (Argentina).

Contact person: Benjamín Domenech (Rei Cine).

Telephone: +54 9 11 55 77 34 96

Email / Website: bd@reicine.com.ar / www.reicine.com

Territories available: All

Synopsis: A documentary portrait of Lucrecia Martel during the shooting of ZAMA.

L'ENIGMA DI JEAN ROUCH A TORINO - CRONACA DI UN FILM RATÉ / THE

ENIGMA OF JEAN ROUCH IN TURIN - CHRONICLE OF A "FILM RATÉ"

90’

Director: Marco di Castri, Paolo Favaro, Daniele Pianciola

Country of Origin: Italy

Production Company: Atacama Film (Italy), Les Films du Jeudi (France), Les Films de la

Pléiade (France).

Contact person: Alejandro de la Fuente (Atacama Film).

Telephone: +39 347 4958048

Email / Website: a.delafuente@atacamafilm.com

Territories available: All

Synopsis: At the beginning of the eighties the famous French ethnographer and filmmaker Jean

Rouch, one of the leading spirits of the Nouvelle Vague left Africa to come to Turin to make a

movie. The documentary tells the story of what was a true "laboratory of ideas" and the birth of the

film Enigma that came out of it. The documentary, directed by Marco di Castri, Paolo Favaro and

Daniele Pianciola, unveils through original material and the voices of its main protagonists, those

two years between Rouch's arrival and the conclusion of the project. For the first time Rouch

reveals how he worked and communicated his talent and vision.

Link to trailer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8s6AfYkXYhJY2Jwc1JGVGVLTVU/view

BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

STRANGE COLOURS

85’

Director: Alena Lodkina

Country of Origin: Australia

Production Company: Strange Colours Productions (Australia)

Contact person: Kate Laurie, Isaac Wall

Telephone: +61403724247 (Kate), +61411486696 (Isaac)

Email / Website: kateelaurie@gmail.com, wall.isaac@gmail.com /www.strangecolours.com

Territories available: All

Synopsis: Milena travels to a remote opal mining community to see her estranged, ill father. Lost

and alone, she falls into his bewildering world, where men escape society and share ideals of

freedom. Soon, he doesn’t want her to leave. Stuck in time, father and daughter try to mend their

fractured bond, but their connection is fragile, like the strange, colourful gems he digs up from the

earth.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Y0d6yVpRw

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

93’

Director: Giorgio Ferrero

Country of Origin: Italy

Production Company: MYBOSS srl (Italy).

Contact person: Federico Biasin

Telephone: +39 3476837092

Email / Website: : federico@mybosswas.com / www.mybosswas.com

Territories available: All

Synopsis: Van is an oil worker living in Texas, near the most important oil basin in the United

States. Danilo is a chief engineer of trans-oceanic Cargo ships and works every day in the engine in

the heart of the ship. Andrea is an Italian scientist, a luminary in the world of acoustic physics that

has spent his life on books and in silence. Vito spent half of his life managing slot machines in Swiss

clubs and is now responsible for the waste incinerators pit. These men are unknowingly at the basis

of the long chain of creation, transportation, marketing, and destruction of objects in our

contemporary bulimic life and are part of the same story without ever having met. Vittoria and

Andrea are a couple like many others. They have had an accumulating life that is coming to the

saturation point and they are not able to see a way out. They are forty. They have spent their

childhood in the full boom of commercial television, and grown up through the birth of the internet

afterwards. Vittoria and Andrea are us.

Link to trailer:

FINAL CUT IN VENICE

Films in post-production presented at the workshop Final Cut in Venice.

DREAM AWAY

85’

Director: Marouan Omara, Johanna Domke

Country of Origin: Germany, Egypt

Production Company: Monokel (Germany).

Contact person: Roman Roitman (Monokel)

Telephone: +4917632906700

Email / Website: roman@monokel.de/ www.monokel.de

Territories available: All

Synopsis: Recent terror attacks have brought tourism in Sharm El Sheikh to a halt. We follow a

group of young workers in a luxury hotel compound, holding onto the town despite the lack of

tourists. Returning home is not an option, as they have absorbed the liberal life-style and experience

the difficulty of fitting back into their own culture. Sharm El Sheikh has for a long time been a

dream destination for young Egyptians, representing a place of freedom and easy money. Clichés

and stereotypes of both western and oriental culture clash and create a carousel-like experience,

elevating the young Egyptians into a dream-like state. They lead a double life in the shadow of the

shiny shimmering hotel facades, as their families are unaware of the sinful temptations in town. In

the absence of tourists, all are facing an uncertain future. It leaves them in a vacuum of lacking

opportunities, both on a financial and personal level, leading them to an existential quest about

their identity.

A KASHA

85’

Director: hajooj kuka

Country of Origin: Sudan, South Africa, Qatar.

Production Company: Refugee Club (South Africa).

Contact person: Steven Markovitz (Monokel)

Telephone: +4917632906700

Email / Website: steven@bigworld.co.za

Territories available: All

Synopsis: The kasha is the event where the military rounds up any soldiers who have not returned

after their leave. It is an intense moment where everybody's deeply unsettled and a bit scared – the

outside world of revolution has entered a world where things are "normal", lighter. Adnan is a

revolutionary war hero whose love for his AK47 and fighting are only rivaled by his feelings for

Lina, his long-suffering sweetheart. When Adnan is late to return to his military unit after his

leave, the army commander, Blues, launches a kasha: the rounding up and arresting of truant

soldiers. Adnan, distracted by Lina, is caught-off guard and makes a run for it. He joins up with

Absi, a lover-not-a fighter who is dodging the kasha. Together the two unlikely friends plot ways to

reunite Adnan with his gun – and Lina – while avoiding their fellow soldiers. Through a series of

wry incidents over 24 hours, we explore life and ideology in rebel-held areas of Sudan.

INDIVISION / JOINT POSSESSION

105’

Director: Leila Kilani

Country of Origin: France, Morocco.

Production Company: DKB Productions (France), Socco Chico Films (Morocco).

Contact person: Emmanuel Barrault (DKB Productions)

Telephone: +33 6 09 21 87 93

Email / Website: : info@dkbproductions.com /www.dkbproductions.com

Territories Available: All except France

Synopsis: Tangier's topography is in turmoil. Pharaonic real estate projects surround the

Mansouria, a landlocked family estate, up for sale and coveted by Amina and her heirs. Suddenly

fires lit up across the hills.

Link to trailer:

FREEDOM FIELDS

90’

Director: Naziha Arebi

Country of Origin: Lybia, UK.

Production Company: HuNa Productions (Libya), SDI Productions Ltd (UK).

Contact person: Flore Cosquer (SDI Productions Ltd)

Telephone: +44 7900 537 631

Email / Website: : flore@scottishdocinstitute.com

Territories Available: All

Synopsis: In post-revolution Libya a group of women are brought together by one dream: to play

football for their nation. But as the country descends into civil war and the utopian hopes of the

'Arab Spring' begin to fade, can they realise their dream? And is there even a country left to play

for? Freedom Fields is a film about hope and sacrifice in a land where dreams seem a luxury.

Through the eyes of these accidental activists we see the reality of a country in transition, where the

personal stories of love, struggle and aspirations collide with history.

INTERNATIONAL FILM CRITICS’ WEEK

SARAH JOUE UN LOUP GAROU / SARAH PLAYS A WEREWOLF

86’

Director: Katharina Wyss

Country of Origin: Switzerland, Germany

Production Company: Intermezzo Films (Switzerland), Mnemosyn Films (Switzerland),

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (Germany).

Contact Person: Luc Peter (Intermezzo)

Telephone: +41 76 438 2630

Email / Website: luc@intermezzofilms.ch / www.intermezzofilms.ch

Territories available: All available, except Switzerland

Synopsis: On stage 17-year-old Sarah gives it all. When she performs, there is an instant of

suspense, a moment in which she appears to transform completely into her character. What lies

behind Sarah’s radical stage presence? A dark secret she is trying to express. A claustrophobic

family environment, the longing for a boyfriend, a friend, someone she can confide in. The more

Sarah expresses this desire, the more she ends up alienating the people willing to get close to her. A

few days in the life of an outsider and her incessant struggle to escape solitude.

KÖRFEZ / THE GULF

108’

Director: Emre Yeksan

Country of Origin: Germany, Greece

Production Company: istos film (Turkey), BirFilm (Turkey), Kundschafter Filmproduktion

(Germany), Homemade Films (Greece).

Contact Person: Anna Maria Aslanoğlu (istos film)

Telephone: +90 535 217 52 10

Email / Website: annamaria@istosfilm.com / www.istosfilm.com

Territories available: All except Turkey

Synopsis: Leaving behind a ruined career and a bitter divorce, Selim returns to his hometown

Izmir. Unwilling to make plans for the future, he wanders around, revisiting his past: family,

schoolmates, an ex-lover and the city. He runs into Cihan, a pal from the military service: a lowerclass

idler with charming energy. As people start leaving the city due to a horrible smell caused by a

maritime accident, Selim finds himself gradually drawn to a new world where he’ll embrace

possibilities of life again.

DRIFT

97’

Director: Helena Wittmann

Country of Origin: Germany

Production Company: fuenferfilm (Germany), H,T,N (Germany).

Contact Person: Frank Scheuffele (fuenferfilm)

Telephone: +49 176 238 62874

Email / Website: mail@fuenferfilm.de , frank@fuenferfilm.de / www.fuenferfilm.de

Territories available: All

Synopsis: Two women spend a weekend at the North Sea. One of them will soon return to her

family in Argentina, whereas the other one will try to come a step closer to the ocean. On a sailing

vessel she crosses the Atlantic Ocean. Time leaves the beaten track and the swell lulls to deep sleep.

The sea takes over the narration. And when she reappears, the wind is still in her hair while the

ground beneath her feet is solid. She returns and the other one asks: “Have you changed?”

Link to trailer:

VENICE DAYS

MI HUA ZHI WEI / THE TASTE OF RICE FLOWER

102'

Director: Pengfei

Country of Origin: China

Production Company: Shanghai Uniglobe Film & Culture Co Ltd, China and Mishka

Production, China.

Contact Person: Clement Magar (GO Global)

Telephone: +86 177 1011 8183

Email / Website: Clement_Magar@goglobalfilm.com / http://www.imglobalfilm.com

Territories available: All

Synopsis: After years working in town, Ye Nan, a mother from Dai Minority, comes back to her

village in Yunnan at the Sino-Burmese border. She wants to take care of her left-behind 13-year-old

problem daughter. However, the road to rebuild their relationship is full of obstacles. One day the

daughter is arrested for stealing money in the most sacred temple with her friend, who gets sick

afterwards. As people think the girls are possessed by devil, they decide to save the girls and their

village by going to worship the stone Buddha in the 250-million-year-old karst cave…

Link to trailer:

(Password: riceflower)

GETTING NAKED: A BURLESQUE STORY

85'

Director: James Lester

Country of Origin: United States

Production Company: Lester Films, Inc. (USA), Burlesque Film LLC (USA).

Contact Person: Susan Wrubel (Wry Films)

Telephone: +19179164449

Email / Website: Swrubel@gmail.com/ https://prolabs.imdb.com/name/nm2778470/?ref_=sch_int

Territories available: All

Synopsis: “Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story” peels back the curtain to reveal the sexy subculture

of the neo-burlesque scene in New York City. This verité documentary intimately follows

four performers, each of whom has discovered a newfound identity and belongs in a world of bawdy

comedy and striptease. However, they find that all that glitters is not necessarily gold, as this

liberating community does not insulate from the harsh realities of sexism, illness and existential

crisis. “Getting Naked” explores what it means to be an artist, an entertainer, and a woman in the

toughest city on Earth.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CIHRvHLca0&t=10s

IL RESOLUTO / THE RESOLUTE

160'

Director: Giovanni Donfrancesco

Country of Origin: Italy, France

Production Company: Les Films du Poisson (France), Altara Films (Italy).

Contact Person: Estelle Fialon (Les Films du Poisson)

Telephone: +33675565387

Email / Website: estelle@filmsdupoisson.com / www.filmsdupoisson.com

Territories available: All except for France (TV) - Italy (TV) - Germany (TV) .

Synopsis: From the depths of his retirement in the woods of Vermont, in the United States, an old

87-year-old Italian turns back on his life. From his memories of the war, resurge a past of violence

in the ranks of the Xth MAS, one of the bloodiest fascist militias, and stunning revelations about

Mussolini's famous war treasure.

Link to trailer: