VENICE CLASSICS

The 76th Venice International Film Festival will be held on the Lido from August 28th to September 7th 2019, directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by La Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta.

Venice Classics is the section that since 2012 has presented world premiere screenings at the Venice Film Festival of a selection of the best restorations of film classics carried out over the past year by film archives, cultural institutions and production companies around the world. Curated by Alberto Barbera with the collaboration of Stefano Francia di Celle, Venice Classics also presents a selection of documentaries about cinema or its authors. The Jury chaired by Costanza Quatriglio will be composed of 22 students, each of them recommended by professors of film studies from various Italian universities, DAMS and from Ca' Foscari University in Venice.

The restorations in Venice Classics will include, to be screened on the Lido, Lo sceicco bianco (The White Sheik) by Federico Fellini, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1952, presented today with a view towards the 100th anniversary of the director' birth in 2020; a "double bill" for Bernardo Bertolucci with La commare secca (The Grim Reaper), the director's debut film at the 1962 Venice Film Festival, and Strategia del ragno (The Spider's Stratagem), presented at the 1970 Venice Film Festival; the surprising film debut of Giuliano Montaldo, Tiro al piccione (Pigeon Shoot), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1961; a great film produced by RAI (Radio Televisione Italiana) that deserves to be rediscovered, Maria Zef (1981) by Vittorio Cottafavi; the masterpiece by Manoel de Oliveira, Francisca (1981); Out of the Blue (1980) by Dennis Hopper;New York, New York (1977) by Martin Scorsese, in a new 35mm copy, courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) on the occasion of United Artists centennial anniversary. The new copy, printed especially for the Venice Film Festival, is presented by the famous producer Irvin Winkler, who will also hold a masterclass after the end of the screening.