VENICE -'FILM FESTIVAL'- VECTOR : HIGHLIGHTS 9

 

Having kicked off yesterday, the 78th annual Venice International Film Festival will run until September 11, 2021.

There are 21 films competing for the Golden Lion, including a new work on Lady Di, Spencer. Ridley Scott's Last Duel will premiere outside the competition. Compiled from DW, here are some of the highlights of the extravaganza.

1.- 'Parallel Mothers'

Pedro Almodovar opens the festival with Parallel Mothers, which is also in the race for the Golden Lion. The film portrays two women who give birth to a child on the same day, and whose lives run parallel during the first two following years.

It stars Penelope Cruz, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Juilieta Serrano and Roosy De Palma, all actors who have already worked with the acclaimed Spanish filmmaker.

2.- Director Alberto Barbera impressed by the film line-up.

A total of 59 countries are represented at the festival this year, with 21 entries in the main competition for the Golden Lion. Filmmaker Barbera praised the high quality of the works in the programme, saying it felt ''as if the pandemic had stimulated everyone's creativity.'' 

Last year, eight female directors presented their films in the competition, in 2021 there will only be five.

3.- An award-winning jury

The seven-member jury consists of four women and three men, is led by Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho [ Parasite ]. Another Academy Award-winning jury member is Chloe-Zhao, whose film Nomadland not only swept the top awards at the Oscars, but also won last year's Golden Lion in Venice.

4.- 'Spencer'.

The poster and the trailer of Pablo Larrain's drama on the British royals already went viral ahead of the festival. Spencer - which was the maiden name of Lady Di - is set in 1991, during Princess Diana's Christmas holidays with the royal family, when she decides to separate from Prince Charles. Kristen Stewart plays the lead role in the German-UK-US Chilean co-production.

5.- 'The Lost Daughter'

Actor Maggie Cyllenhaal joins the Venice competition with debut as a director and screenwriter, with the film adaptation of Elena Ferrante's novel The Lost Daughter. Oscar winner Olivia Coman portrays a woman who spends her days observing a mother and her daughter on the beach, as they remind her of the time when now grown-up daughters were little.

6.- 'Reflection'

Ukrainian director Vanentyn Vasyanoyych is presenting his film Reflection, in which a Ukrainian surgeon is captured by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine's conflict zone and experiences humiliation and violence.

In 2019, the director received the Horizons Award for Atlantis. This year, he has a chance of nabbing the Golden Lion.

7.- 'The Last Duel'

Ridley Scott's first film since 2017, starring Matt Damon, will also premiere at the Venice festival. It is based on a true story from the 14th century, but could hardly be more topical in the age of #MeToo: A knight's wife claims to have been raped by his best friend. The ensuing duel between two friends also happens to be the last one to be legally sanctioned in France's history.

8.- Jamie Lee Curtis

Thanks to her many appearances in horror films, Jamie Lee Curtis was known as the ''Scream Queen''  in the 1970s.

In the upcoming slasher  Halloween Kills, she once again has to meet the psychopathic serial killer Michael Myers. The film is playing outside of competition at the Venice Film Festival. Curtis will also be receiving a Golden Lion for her lifetime achievement.

9.- 'Becoming Led Zeppelin'

Outside the competition, one of the films being shown is the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin.

It tells of how the rock band came to be, starting from shows in small English clubs all the way through their status as one of the biggest bands in rock history, with timeless hits like the song Stairway to Heaven. Director Bernard MacMahon used more than 70,000 restored archive photos.

The World Students Society thanks News Desk, The Express Tribune.