9. Queer Lion Award: films in competition

Cast, credits, synopses, pictures and of all the movies in competition for Queer Lion 2015; and the calendar with the screening schedule throughout the Film Festival

The Danish Girl
The Danish Girl

The Danish Girl by Tom Hooper with Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander (Uk/Usa, 120’) Venezia 72

Copenhagen, early Twenties. The Danish artist Gerda Wegener paints a portrait of her husband Einer dressed up as a woman. The painting gains a huge success and Einar starts permanently assuming a female appearance, changing his name to Lili Elbe. Inspired by feminist ideals and supported by the wife, Elbe attempts the first-ever male to female sex reassignment surgery, deeply affecting his marriage and identity.

5 September 9:00 Sala Darsena, 11:30 Sala Grande, 19:30 Sala Grande, 20:15 PalaBiennale

6 September 10:45 PalaBiennale, 16:00/19/21:30 Multisala Rossini (Venezia)

7 September 16.30/19/21.30 IMG Cinemas Candiani (Mestre)

Desde allá
Desde allá

Desde allá by Lorenzo Vigas with Alfredo Castro, Luis Silva (Venezuela, 93’) Venezia 72

In the chaotic Caracas, Armando, owner of a dental prosthesis laboratory, lurks nearby bus stations, approaches young boys and offers them money to accompany him home. Armando also uses to spy an old man, the place where he lives and the ones where he goes. Perhaps there is something in the past that links both of them. One day Armando brings home with him the 18-year-old Elder, head of a small gang of vandals. It’s the start of a relationship that will change their lives forever.

9 September 19:30 Sala Darsena, 22:00 Sala Perla

10 September 17:00 Sala Grande, 21:45 PalaBiennale

11 September 10:45 PalaBiennale, 16:30 Multisala Rossini (Venezia)

12 September 16:30 IMG Cinemas Candiani (Mestre)

Spotlight
Spotlight (credit Kerry Hayes)

Spotlight by Thomas McCarthy with Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton (Usa, 123’) Fuori Concorso

In 2001, the Boston Globe conducted a report that shook the foundation of the city and shocked the world. Spotlight tells the story of this investigation, led by the members of the Globe detective team Spotlight. They uncovered the strategic blanketing by the Archdiocese of Boston on sexual abuses against children by several priests. Spotlight casts a new light on the investigations of men and women working to denounce the scandal.

3 September 9:00 Sala Grande, 11:30 Sala Darsena, 19:15 Sala Grande

4 September 17:45 PalaBiennale

Janis
Janis

Janis by Amy Berg (Usa, 115’) Fuori Concorso

The documentary follows the main stages of Janis Joplin’s life, from her performance at Monterey Pop in 1967 to Woodstock in 1969 and Festival Express in 1970, including interviews with relatives, friends and rock stars of her time. The soundtrack features Janis Joplin’s hits, among which Cry Baby, Mercedes Benz and Piece of My Heart. Amy Berg shows the woman behind the myth, other than the rock&roll icon, unveils a gentle, innocent yet strong woman. Well known as rock icon, the personal story of Janis Joplin is very complex. Janis serves as a narrator, telling us her life through the letters she wrote to her friends, relatives and lovers, leading us in a journey that starts from her childhood.

5 September 19:30 Sala Perla, 22:00 Sala Darsena

6 September 14:00 Sala Grande

7 September 17:30 Sala Perla 2

La calle de la amargura
La calle de la amargura (credit Víctor Mendiola)

La calle de la amargura by Arturo Ripstein with Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Nora Velázquez (Mexico/Spain, 99’) Fuori Concorso

Two old prostitutes go back to their hovels. One of them has problems with the teenage daughter and the husband devoted to cross-dressing. The other one lives completely alone, with no ties. However, that night they have an appointment to celebrate the in-ring victory of two midget wrestlers. The film is based on the true story of two wrestlers found dead in a Cuauhtemoc hotel in Mexico City, presumably poisoned by the two women.

10 September 9:00 Sala Grande, 11:30 Sala Darsena, 22:00 Sala Grande

11 September 17:30 PalaBiennale, 21:30 Multisala Rossini (Venezia)

12 September 21:30 IMG Cinemas Candiani (Mestre)

Lama azavtani
Lama azavtani (credit Vered Adir)

Lama Azavtani by Hadar Morag with Muhammad Daas, Yuval Gurevich (Israel/France, 94’) Orizzonti

A rejected boy from the fringes of society discovers a distant, enigmatic man, a lone ranger who dominates the back alleys of a filthy city. Stubborn and tenacious, the boy instills himself under the man`s wing. In their struggle for self-control, their attempts to restrain themselves get out of hand.

7 September 19:30 Sala Pasinetti, 22:30 Sala Volpi

8 September 17:00 Sala Darsena

9 September 15:15 PalaBiennale

Arianna
Arianna

Arianna by Carlo Lavagna with Ondina Quadri, Massimo Popolizio (Italy, 84’) 12. Giornate degli Autori

Arianna is nineteen, but she’s still waiting to get her first period. As the summer begins, her parents decide to renew their acquaintance with their country house on Lake Bolsena, where Arianna lived until she was three, and has never been back. As the family settle in for the summer, long-repressed memories start to re-emerge, and Arianna decides to stay on after her parents return to the city.

3 September 9:00 Sala Perla

4 September 17:00 Sala Perla, 21:00 Multisala Rossini (Venezia)

5 September 21:00 IMG Cinemas Candiani (Mestre)

Marguerite
Marguerite

Marguerite by Xavier Giannoli (France/Czech Republic/Belgium, 127’) Venezia 72

1921, the beginning of the Roaring Twenties. Not far from Paris. It is party day at Marguerite Dumont’s castle. Like every year, an array of music lovers gathers around a great cause at the owner’s place. Nobody knows much about this woman except that she is rich and that her whole life is devoted to her passion: music. Marguerite sings. She sings wholeheartedly, but she sings terribly out of tune. Blackmailed for a sex scandal, a famous homosexual opera singer will be forced to become her teacher and mentor, but it will not be enough.

4 September 22:00 Sala Grande (official screening)

In Jackson Heights
In Jackson Heights

In Jackson Heights by Frederick Wiseman (Usa, 190’) Fuori Concorso

Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse communities in the United States and the world. The people who live in Jackson Heights, in their cultural, racial, sexual and ethnic diversity, are representative of the new wave of immigrants to America. Some of the issues the film raises – assimilation, integration, immigration, cultural and religious differences – are common to all the major cities of the Western world.

4 September 13:30 Sala Grande (official screening)

Human
Human

Human by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (France, 188’) Fuori Concorso

Human, a diptych of narrations and images of our world, offers us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the deepest reaches of a human being. Through testimonies full of love and happiness, as well as hatred and violence, Human brings us face to face with the Other and takes us back to our own lives. Yann Arthus-Bertrand: “I dreamed of a film in which the power of words would resonate with the beauty of the world. Putting the ills of humanity at the heart of my work—poverty, war, immigration, homophobia—I made certain choices. Committed, political choices. But people talked to me about everything: their difficulty in growing as well as their love and happiness. This richness of the human word lies at the heart of human. The movie relates the voices of all those, men and women, who entrusted me with their stories. And it becomes their messenger..”

12 September 14:30 Sala Darsena (official screening)

Na ri xiawu (Afternoon)
Na ri xiawu (Afternoon)

Na ri xiawu (Afternoon) by Tsai Ming-liang (Chinese Taipei, 137’) Fuori Concorso

At the ruins, in the afternoon. The conversation between a dying man and his most beloved person: director Tsai Ming-liang and his partner for the last 20 years, actor Lee Kang Sheng.

10 September 16:30 Sala Pasinetti

11 September 19:30 Sala Volpi

12 September 14:00 Sala Volpi

Helmut Berger, Actor
Helmut Berger, Actor

Helmut Berger, Actor by Andreas Horvath (Austria, 89’) Venezia Classici

The film is an intimate portrait of the aged Helmut Berger, exposing the brusqueness of his character for what it really is: a cry for attention, closeness and intimacy. The radicality and ruthlessness with which he lays bare his emotions and exhibits his body bear resemblance to the Viennese Actionism movement. And much like the Actionists Berger uses performance art as a means of articulating his discomfort.

9 September 17:00 Sala Casinò

10 September 22:00 Sala Casinò

The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin

The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin by Yves Montmayeur (France, 65’) Venezia Classici

Daniel N. Casagrande: “Guy Maddin’s cinema is intrinsecally surreal, happily anarchic, intellectually compelling, drastically poetic, fierce, cinephile; many of his works are a visually elaborate tribute, among others, to Jean Genet and Kenneth Anger; “Sissy Boy Slap Party” is probably the best example of how the queer aesthetics is Maddin’s cinematic grammar.” The documentary shows, among thers, interviews to John Waters and Kenneth Anger.

8 September 15:30 Sala Casinò

10 September 20:15 Sala Casinò

Baby Bump
Baby Bump

Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj (Poland, 89’) Biennale College – Cinema

Kuba Czekaj: “My intention was to create an unrealistic movie. A comic-book style film about physical adolescence—about the body that changes, grows and turns into a monster. The story is focused on the corporeality of an 11-year-old boy and the frustration it causes—the kid doesn’t want to be noticed and belittled. He doesn’t know what is happening with him. He rejects the fact that his transformation has begun. He escapes into his fantasy world—a cruel fairy tale where his contacts with his community and his mother— unable to accept that her son changes—assume final proportions. Baby Bump is a portrait of a child trapped in adolescence—few say it out loud, but growing up really isn’t for kids.”

3 September 17:00 Sala Casinò