ON THIS PAGE:
- Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík
- Sidonie in Japan by Elise Girard
- The Invention of Snow tells the story of Salento
PHOTOPHOBIA
Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, 2023, Directed by Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík With Nikita Tyshchenko, Viktoriia Mats, Yana Yevdokymova, Yevhenii Borshch, Anna Tyshchenko, Vitaly Pavlovitch, Tatiana Valentynovna Runtime 71′
Two Slovak filmmakers, Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík, arrive in Ukraine. Amid the ruins of a devastating war, they decide to take an alternative point of view, that of two children, Niki and Vika, who have found shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv, in the northeastern part of the country. Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík shoot in Super 8 and have no intention of hiding anything; they simply chase the everyday in destruction, stalking stubborn life as the bond of these two children grows stronger, until they find the courage to feel the sun on their faces again. “We filmed the images of a war-torn country as if they corresponded to those of a traumatized child-the fever dream of a distant past-if only the audience did not know that this is the reality of Ukraine today.”
Claudia Giampaolo
SIDONIE IN JAPAN
Sidonie au Japon, France, 2023. Director Élise Girard. Starring Isabelle Huppert, August
On the opening day of the competition of this 20th edition of Venice Days, the evening sees the presentation of the trip to Japan by Sidonie played by Isabelle Huppert, muse of director Élise Girard and – in fiction – an established French writer mourning the death of her husband. The director says the film was “born from the feelings I had when I first discovered Japan in 2013”. Girard moved to Kyoto in 2017 thanks to a scholarship from the Lumière Institute. Also the life of the protagonist of the movie, not surprisingly, gradually changes. She opens herself up to the local editor accompanying her and life itself. Past and present intertwine between ghosts and reality in the search for a lost identity. And not only that, as Girard concludes, “I wanted to talk about mourning, rebirth, love that returns unexpectedly,” and to make a “declaration of love to a country that I feel is both close and foreign… a country of choice for cinema.”
Mattia Pasquini
The Invention of Snow tells the story of Salento
Vittorio Moroni’s L’invenzione della neve (The Invention of Snow), which opens the Notti Veneziane tonight, once again brings the Apulian territory, now frequented by international cinema, into the limelight. Shot between Lecce, Carmiano, Otranto and Castro Marina, it tells the story of Carmen, who comes from a problematic past. She was taken away from her mother in adolescence and grew up in a foster home. The story stars Elena Gigliotti, Alessandro Averone, Anna Ferruzzo, Anna Bellato, Eleonora De Luca and Carola Stagnaro. The film is produced by 50Notturno (executive production Fluid Produzioni, distribution I Wonder). The contribution of the Apulia Film Fund from the Apulia Film Commission and the Apulia Region was decisive for the production. “The important Apulian presence within the lagoon kermesse,” commented Annamaria Tosto, President of Apulia Film Commission, “summarizes, in part, the great work of Regione Puglia and Apulia Film Commission on the different segments of the audiovisual industry. A work destined to be renewed through the new funds and actions that will be put in place in the coming weeks to continue contributing to Apulia’s cultural and economic growth.”
