Venice Film Festival 2022

The VFF is a fun celebration. Not only can visitors view spectacular films from around the world, but they also have the chance to see and sometimes chat with the creators of these movies. Yes, that is Tim Robbins over there – go tell him how much you enjoyed the film he directed – the one you just saw. I’ve seen the person standing next to me somewhere – but where? Oh, I know, he stared in the movie I just left. Compliment him on how good his performance was.

It’s so delightful to see a grandmother returning from grocery shopping with bags of goodies on her bicycle, or children with sand-covered feet on their way home from the beach.

They can stand with film goers and watch celebrities drive past on their way to the paparazzi-lined red carpet. There is a charming mix of persons on the Lido, home to the VFF. Luckily one has the opportunity to interact with them or not. Major stars will frequently give fans the chance for a quick selfie or an autograph.

Very few, if any, films at this festival will have scripts based on popular comic books or, for that matter, even Shakespeare’s narratives. The stories told here are most often based on true-life experiences or documented events relative to current world conditions. They are also considered the best created in the current year. Most artists hope their work will be considered for the coveted “Oscar” award presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the following year.

• TAR, 158 min. (Dir. Todd Fieldtar) Set in the international world of classical music, TAR centers on the first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra. She is demanding, unconventional in both teaching and conducting, and has a young daughter and female partner.
• BARDO, 179 min. (False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths) (Dir. Alejandro G. Inarritu) Journey of Silverio, a renowned Mexican journalist living in California. Must return home to receive award. Horribly boring, tedious waste of time. There are several times the film could end, but doesn’t. One wonders not when it will end, but if it ever will.
• Come le tartarughe, (Like Turtles), 80 min. (Dir. Monica Dugo) Daniele, Lisa and their two children live in Rome. Husband leaves and Lisa moves into an empty wardrobe. Her older daughter takes over and managing the family while secretly meeting with her estranged father.
• Pinned into a Dress, 19 min. Dir. Gianluca Matarrese, Guillaume Thomas. The life of a cross-dresser/fashion model who feels trapped in his career.
• Trois units par semaine, (Three Nights a Week), 103 min. (Dir. Florent Gouelou) Bapiste is in a relationship with his girlfriend. When he meets a young drag queen (Cookie) he changes his sexual direction.
• Najsreknoit covek na svetot/Najsewrniji covjek na svijetu, A 40-year-old single woman living in Sarajevo attends a speed dating event to meet new people. She is matched with a 48-year-old man seeking forgiveness.
• A Compassionate Spy, 102 min. (Dir. Steve James) Docudrama of an 18-year-old spy who gave nuclear information to the Russians with the hope of neutralizing atomic dominance.
• Annual Venetian Regatta – no films
• Koroshi no Rakuin, (Branded to Kill), 92 min. (Dir. Seijun Suzuki) – Goro Hanada is #2 hitman and is continually attacked by #1 and #3. He and #1 finally confront one another. A recently restored a 1967 Japanese film.
• Pulet (Sapling), 14 min. (Dir. Lorenzo Fabbro, BronteStahl) Young Slavic boy wanders around a country side. Awful.
• Eismayer, 87 min. (Dir. David Wagner) Vice Lt. Eismayer is the most feared trainer and macho man in the Austrian Military – also gay. When he falls in love with an openly gay soldier his world gets turned upside down. Based on real events.
• Music for Black Pigeons, 92 min. (Dir. Jorgensen Leth, Andreas Koefoed) The film poses existential questions to influential jazz players.
• Reginetta, 20 min. (Dir. Federico Russotto) Eastern European girl trapped in leather harnesses to become the perfect Regina.
• Aus Meitner Haut, (Skin Deep) 103 min. (Dir. Alex Schaad) When a young couple travel to a mysterious, remote island, a game of identities begins.
• Jang-e Jahani Sevom, (World War III), 107 min. (Dir. Housman Seyedi) A homeless day laborer, working at a construction site, inadvertently becomes a film star when a movie company comes to his site to make a film set during WW II.
• Ljuksemburg, Ljuksemburg, 106 min. (Luxembourg, Luxembourg), (Dir. Antonio Lukich) When twin brothers hear of their absent father’s fatal illness, they set out on a journey to see him just one last time. Will the man they find be their bad-ass father they remember?
• The Matchmaker, 88 min. (Dir. Benedetta Argentieri) 20-year-old British girl who left to join the Islamic State and became known as a matchmaker for the ISIS – recruiting dozens of women to marry ISIS fighters.
• Look at Me, 16 min.; Sahbety (My Girl Friend), 17 min.; Oing bid gua duan, (Please Hold the Line), 19 min.; Manuale di cinematografia per dilettanti, (A Companion for Amateur Cinematographers), 20 min.; Alt på en gang, (Everything at Once), 8 min.; Christopher at Sea, 20 min.; Love Forever, 13 min.
• Janain Mualaqa, (Hanging Gardens), 107 min. (Dir. Ahmed Yasmin, Al Daradji) Two brothers As’ad (12) and Taha (28) scrape a living as rubbish pickers in Baghdad’s dump known as the hanging gardens. As’ad finds a discarded American sex doll and brings the taboo item home. The doll is taught to speak in Arabic.
• Khers Nist (No Bears), 107 min. (Dir. Jafar Panahi) Two parallel love stories where both lovers are touched by unseen obstacles.
• Diretta della ceremonial di premaiazione, Award Ceremony, live, 105 min.
• The Hanging Sun, 93 min. (Dir. Francesco Carrozzini) John, defying his father, a crime boss, is pursued by his brother to bring John home. John hides out in a remote village and finds affection from Caleb, a young boy and his mother Lea. She is also in difficult straits. Based on a Jo Nesbø novel.