Biennale College: some remarks so far and the new projects

On the occasion of the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the President of the Biennale Paolo Baratta took stock of the Biennale College, an initiative which integrates every department of La Biennale di Venezia.

President Baratta declared: “In 2019, the Biennale College Theatre staged works by a young director, by three playwrights, and six performances by actors. Biennale College Dance produced works by three young choreographers and a performance with 15 dancers. Biennale College Music will produce four works by young composers. Biennale College Cinema  made three feature films presented at the 76th Venice Film Festival, and a work of Virtual Reality.”

“Biennale College Cinema can already draw positive conclusions,” President Baratta continued. “Since 2012, it has evaluated 2,013 projects involving first or second works (1,815 Biennale College Cinema, 198 Biennale College Cinema VR), it has selected 141 projects (105 Biennale College Cinema, 36 Biennale College Cinema VR) which participated in workshops offered by the Biennale to re-elaborate and fine-tune the projects. Of these, 27 (22 Biennale College Cinema and 5 Biennale College Cinema VR) have been produced with grants offered by the Biennale and were screened during the Festival (including the four which are part of this year's programming), another 20 (16 Biennale College Cinema, 4 Biennale College Cinema VR) have received financing from other sources. Since 2016, a special program for Italian filmmakers has been operative.

In 2019 – 2020, the number of movies receiving support from the Biennale will be increased to four of the selected films (of which at least two by female directors).”

Twelve projects have been selected for the 8th edition of Biennale College – Cinema 2019/20; their teams (composed of a director and a producer) will participate in the first 10-day workshop which will be held in Venice from October 5-14, 2019. Nine projects were selected from the Biennale College – Cinema  International competition, whereas another three came from the  Biennale College Cinema – Italy competition. A total of 190 projects participated.

The 12 projects selected for this first phase of Biennale College – Cinema are:

• La Calle Pura - Alfredo Chiarappa (director, Italy), Angelo Rocco Troiano (producer, Italy)
• La Santa Piccola - Silvia Brunelli (director, Italy), Francesca Maria Scanu (producer, Italy)
• The Wizard of Fake - Stefano Etter, Giovanni Greggio (directors, Italy), Mattia De Marco (producer, Italy)
• Babado - Camila Freitas (director, Brazil), Pedro Duarte (producer, Portugal)
• Fucking with Nobody - Hannaleena Hauru (director, Finland), Emilia Haukka (producer, Finland)
• Good Deal - Di Shen (director, China), Lizhi Chen (producer, China)
• He That Shall Be Named (Mon Père, Le Diable) - Ellie Foumbi (director, USA), Joseph Mastantuono (producer, France)
• Housekeeping for Beginners - Goran Stolevski (director, Macedonia), Marija Dimitrova (producer, Macedonia)
• Last Minutes - Pedro Collantes (director, Spain), Daniel Remón (producer, Spain)
• The Plant Under The Wild Land - Diego Zon (director, Brazil), Ana Cristina Viegas (producer, Portugal)
• The Sound of Light - Julietta Boscolo (director, Australia), Grayson Propst (producer, USA)
• Violenta - Juan Carlos Zaldivar alias Violenta Flores (director, USA), Gill Holland and Shaz Bennett (producers, USA)

Information about the 12 projects is available at the following website:
http://collegecinema.labiennale.org/en/

After the workshop which will be held in Venice from October 5-14, 2019, four of these twelve projects (including one from the Italy section) will be selected to receive support from the Biennale to cover production costs, which cannot exceed 150,000  Euros, and will be presented at the 77th Venice Film Festival in 2020.

Biennale College – Cinema promotes new film talents, offering them the opportunity to work in contact with top professionals to make micro-budget movies. 4 of these 12 projects (one of which Italian) will receive support totaling 150,000 Euros, to make a maximum of four feature films (first or second films) which will be presented in 2020 at the 77th Venice Film Festival.

Biennale College – Cinema, conducted by the Biennale di Venezia, has the support of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities – Directorate General for Cinema.  One of the sponsors of the Biennale College – Cinema is the Università Telematica Pegaso. Biennale College – Cinema receives academic collaboration from IFP New York and TorinoFilmLab. The Director is Alberto Barbera; the Head of Programme is Savina Neirotti.

The educational activities of the Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality projects receive important financing from the MEDIA Programme – Creative Europe of the European Commission – Connect Directorate General. This contribution is in addition to the support which the MEDIA Programme gives to develop the Venice Production Bridge.

Furthermore, the call was announced for the fourth edition of  the Biennale College – Cinema Virtual Reality for 2019-2020.

Applications can be presented starting Monday, September 2 and until October 22, 2019, by accessing the website http://collegecinema.labiennale.org/en/ which features a dedicated application form.

Biennale College - Cinema Virtual Reality is a program of the Biennale di Venezia; its goal is to explore the most innovative and captivating technology of the moment: Virtual Reality. By navigating the aesthetic and narrative opportunities offered by this audio-visual format, Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality offers professionals from the world of the arts and film, who have a rich background of experience in various fields, the necessary expertise to work in the fascinating and interactive 360° format. Thanks to the support of international experts who work in this sector, Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality helps independent and creative filmmakers from all over the world to try their hand at virtual reality, and teaches them how to seamlessly adapt their own skills to this field. During the program, the participants will acquire specific know-how regarding 360° immersive storytelling, redefining the relationship between the story and the audience.

The educational activities of the Biennale College – Cinema and the Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality programs receive important financing from the MEDIA Programme – Creative Europe of the European Commission – Connect Directorate General. This contribution is in addition to the support which the MEDIA Programme gives to develop the Venice Production Bridge.