Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát’s first English-language feature, “My Notes on Mars,” starring Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend, will open the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori.
The section has unveiled a richly assorted lineup featuring works by female directors and exploring the female universe, regardless of who is behind the camera.
This years’s selection of the Giornate – which is also known as Venice Days – comprises 25 world premieres across several sections, 14 of which are directed by women.
The hotly anticipated “My Notes on Mars” by Horvát — whose last film “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” debuted at Venice and Toronto in 2020 — centers on an astrophysicist with a troubled marriage named Margot who vanishes while hiking with her husband, Sam. Weeks later, she suddenly reappears on the day of her own memorial service. Margot remembers nothing about her life — except her Mars research.
“Notes on Mars” is among 10 Venice Days competition entries that will be judged by an all-female jury headed by Spanish director Carla Simón (“Alcarràs,” “Romeria”). The other jurors are Hania Mroue, founder and director of Beirut’s beloved Metropolis Cinema, and Italian director and producer Sara Fgaier.
Polish-born director Kuba Dorabialski’s “Agata the Writerm” starring Mia Wasikowska as a Polish-Australian satirical novelist who travels from Sydney to Sarajevo to write a novel about the Bosnian war only to be challenged by locals, is also ensconced in a competition berth.
Other standout Venice Days competition titles include Italian director Nicola Sorcinelli’s “Balcanica,” about Afghan musicians traveling along the Balcan route after music has been banned in their country, starring Matilda De Angelis (“Citadel: Diana”) who is also a co-producer on the film; Nigerian director Damilola Orimogunje’s “Dear Ajayi,” about two estranged Nigerian sisters who reunite at the wake of a tragedy; and French filmmaker Robert Guèdiguian’s “A Woman Today,” about a young woman named Juliette who holds a top job in finance and whose world collapses when she is assaulted by a colleague at a company event.
Special events include Italian director Francesca Archibugi’s doc “Carla Lonzi, dentro e fuori dal mondo,” about radical feminist activist and art critic Carla Lonzi; Dutch-Egyptian director Ashgan El-Hamus’ debut “Al Baraneya,” about a young, pregnant, woman in an Egyptian village who is mulling the prospect of a promising future in the city if their family land is sold; and the closing film, which is French director Lèa Domenach’s queer and feminist musical comedy “A Man’s Skin,” which is set in the Italian Renaissance and re-teams the director with Catherine Deneuve after their collaboration on Bernadette Chirac comedy “The President’s Wife.”
Shorts by Mona Fastvold and Claire Denis will unspool as part of the Prada-commissioned Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a series of short films directed by women.
In a statement, the section’s artistic director Gaia Furrer pointed out the variety of narrative forms on display. She described them as: “sentimental science fiction, experimental documentaries, history films, family melodramas, anti-hero westerns, musical comedies and other works that freely cross the borders between documentary film and fiction, autobiography and invention.”
“It’s a patchwork of genres that reflects the vibrancy of contemporary cinema and its ability to evolve along with the world itself,” Furrer said.
This edition of Venice Days is dedicated to the memory of Italian film critic Giorgio Gosetti, who in 2004 founded the Venice Days section – which is modeled on Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and supported by Italian film directors’ associations ANAC and 100autori. Gosetti died in March in Rome at 70 years old.
“For 23 years, without interruption, he was its [Venice Days’] guiding spirit, the lifeblood of the organization, motivating and uniting the professionals that turned it into a festival that is known and respected the world over,” a statement noted.
The 23nd edition of Venice Days will run Sept. 2-12, in tandem with the official Venice Film Festival selection. See the full lineup below.
IN COMPETITION
“Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt,” Maria Aparicio
“Agata the Writer,” Kuba Dorabialski
“Balcanica,” Nicola Sorcinelli
“Camouflage,” Mykyta Gibalenko
“Dear Ajayi,” Damilola Orimogunje
“I Plant My Hand in the Garden,” Boris Hadžija and Hoda Taheri
“Les Indes,” Pauline Julier, Nicolas Chapoulier
“My Notes on Mars,” Lili Horvàt – Opening Film
“Salón De Bellezza” Nathalia Acevedo
“A Woman Today,” Robert Guédiguian
OUT OF COMPETITION
“Man’s Skin,” Léa Domenach
SPECIAL EVENTS
“Al Baraneya,” Ashgan El-Hamus
“Carla Lonzi, A Feminist Story,” Francesca Archibugi
“The Phantom,” Ignacio Masilorens, David Lamelas
“The Massacre,” Cosimo Messeri
“Even if Hell Came,” Samuele Rossi
WOMEN’S TALES PROJECT (shorts), in collaboration with Prada’s Miu Miu Label
“Discipline,” Mona Fastvold
“Avec Kim,” Claire Denis
