The Venice Film Festival opened — or rather, pre-opened — yesterday with a tribute to Italian film director Tinto Brass and the transgressive cinema of his early days.
The Festival officially opens today and will run until September 12. Last night saw the presentation of Brass’s bold, vintage 1967 film Col cuore in gola (I Am What I Am), which was restored by the Rome-based Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC). The film had previously been shown at Venice in 2008 and stars Jean-Louis Trintignant and Ewa Aulin. Tinto Brass was unable to attend because of ill health.
Tinni Andreatta, a former RAI executive and now a programmer for Netflix Italy, said that the film will be available on Netflix starting September 15, thanks to the CSC and Kompas Film, which acquired the rights.
The lack of major American films and the reduced number of stars— though George Clooney will be on the red carpet tonight to receive a lifetime achievement award — is expected to limit audience turnout.
Even Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated Artificial is absent from Venice. The film, about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, was rejected by Amazon but picked up by Neon and, reportedly, is already poised for an Oscar run. It will premiere instead at the New York Film Festival.
Of the 29 Italian films being shown in Venice, all or nearly all are produced or co-produced by RAI Cinema.
Leave A Comment