The 65th Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia), organised by the Venice Biennale, will take place on the Venice Lido from August 27th to September 6th 2008.
The world premiere of Joel and Ethan Coen‘s “Burn After Reading” opens the Festival on Wednesday, out of competition. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton are expected to be on Lido's red carpet. The festival continues with its first full day including the first competition screenings on Thursday. The line-up of the 65th Venice Film Festival: IN COMPETITION “The Wrestler,” Darren Aronofsky (U.S., France) Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood “The Burning Plain,” Guillermo Arriaga (U.S.) Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger, Joaquim de Almeida “Il Papa di Giovanna,” Pupi Avati (Italy) Silvio Orlando, Alba Rohrwacher, Francesca Neri, Ezio Greggio, Serena Grandi “Birdwatchers,” Marco Bechis (Italy) Claudio Santamaria, Alicélia Batista Cabreira, Chiara Caselli, Abrisio Da Silva Pedro “L'Autre,” Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic (France) Dominique Blanc, Cyril Gueï, Peter Bonke, Christèle Tual “The Hurt Locker,” Kathryn Bigelow (U.S.) Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty “Il Seme della discordia,” Pappi Corsicato (Italy) Caterina Murino, Alessandro Gassman, Martina Stella, Michele Venitucci, Isabella Ferrari “Rachel Getting Married,” Jonathan Demme (U.S.) Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Rosemarie Dewitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe “Teza,” Haile Gerima (Ethiopia, Germany, France) Aron Arefe, Abiye Tedla, Takelech Beyene “Paper Soldier,” (“Bumažnyj soldat“)Aleksey German Jr. (Russia) Chulpan Khamatova, Merab Ninidze, Anastasya Shevelyova “Süt,” Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey, France, Germany) Melih Selcuk, Basak Koklukaya “Achilles and the Tortoise,” (“Akires to kame“) Takeshi Kitano (Japan) Beat Takeshi, Kanako Higuchi, Yurei Yanagi, Kumiko Aso “Ponyo on Cliff by the Sea,” (“Gake no ue no Ponyo“) Hayao Miyazaki (Japan) animation “Vegas: Based on a True Story,” Amir Naderi (U.S.) Mark Greenfield, Nancy La Scala, Zach Thomas “The Sky Crawlers,” Oshii Mamoru (Japan) animation “Perfect Day,” (“Un giorno perfetto“) Ferzan Ozpetek (Italy) Isabella Ferrari, Valerio Mastandrea, Valerio Binasco, Nicole Grimaudo, Stefania Sandrelli “Jerichow,” Christian Petzold (Germany) Nina Hoss, Benno Fürmann, Hilmi Sözer “Inju, the Beast in the Shadows,” Barbet Schroeder (France) Magimel Benoît, Minamoto Lika, Shun Sugata, Maurice Bénichou, Ryo Ishibashi “Nuit de Chien,” Werner Schroeter (France, Germany, Portugal) Pascal Greggory, Bruno Todeschini, Amira Casar, Jean-François Stevenin “Inland,” (“Gabbla“) Tariq Teguia (Algeria, France) Kader Affak, Ines Rose Djakou, Ahmed Benaïssa, Fethi Ghares, Kouider Medjahed, Djalila Kadi-Hanifi “Plastic City,” (“Dangkou“) Yu Lik-wai (Brazil, China, Hong Kong/China, Japan) Joe Odagiri, Anthony Wong, Huang Yi, Jeff Chen OUT OF COMPETITION Paolo Benvenuti “Puccini e la fanciulla” – Italy Riccardo Moretti, Tania Squillarlo, Giovanna Daddi, Debora Mattiello, Federica Chezzi Joel Coen, Ethan Coen “Burn After Reading” – USA George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton Claire Denis “35 Rhums” – France / Spain Alex Descas, Grégoire Colin, Nicole Dogue, Mati Diop JIA Zhangke “Heshang aiqing” (“Cry me a river“) (short film – 19 minutes) – China / Spain / France Tao Zhao / Hongmei Wang Minoru Kawasaki “Girara no gyakushu / Samitto kiki ippatsu!” (“Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit!“) – Japan Natsuki Kato, Kazuki Kato, Hirohisa Nakata, Susumu Kurobe Abbas Kiarostami “Shirin” – Iran Juliette Binoche, Mahnaz Afshar, Niki Karimi José Mojica Marins “Encarnação do demônio” – Brazil José Mojica Marins, Débora Muniz, Raymond Castile Mario Monicelli “Vicino al Colosseo c'è Monti ” (short film – 22 minutes) – Italy documentary Nonzee Nimibutr “Puen yai jom sa lad” (“Queens of Langkasuka“) – Thailand Ananda Everingham, Jarunee Suksawat, Sorapong Chatri Manoel de Oliveira “Do Visível ao Invisível” (short film – 7 minutes) – Brazil / Portugal Leon Cakoff, Ricardo Trepa Agnés Varda “Les Plages d'Agnès” – France documentary Fabrice du Welz “Vinyan” – France / UK / Belgium Emmanuelle Béart, Rufus Sewell Line-up also includes: Orizzonti – A section aiming to provide a picture of new trends in cinema Corto Cortissimo – An international competition of short films in 35mm, whose length does not exceed 30 minutes These Phantoms: Italian Cinema Rediscovered (1946 – 1975) – A retrospective section on Italian cinema (1946-1975).