We are less than a month away from the opening night of the Venice Film Festival. Not only is this one of the biggest film festivals of any year, but Venice has even more significance in 2020 after the film festival circuit has been decimated by the pandemic. As of now, it appears that Venice is set to go off with a physical festival in Italy in September, and the event has announced two more high-profile films that will be screened.
According to Deadline, Venice is still adding to its already impressive lineup by screening a brand-new pandemic-themed short film from Luca Guadagnino alongside a “provocative drama” about a school shooting from the producer of “Brawl in Cell Block 99” and “Dragged Across Concrete,” both of which will be out-of-competition. No, you can’t imagine two more different projects. Welcome to festival season!
First, we have “Fiori, Fiori, Fiori!” from filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, who is best known for his Oscar-nominated feature “Call Me By Your Name” and 2018’s “Suspiria.” He returns to Venice with a new short about the pandemic, where the director is equipped with only a cell phone and a tablet to travel around Italy interviewing folks about what it’s like living in one of the weirdest and frightening moments in modern history. And while Guadagnino used more guerrilla techniques to make his 12-minute short, it’s edited by Walter Fasano, who worked with the director on the aforementioned “Call Me By Your Name.”
Then, as mentioned, we have the upcoming film from director Kyle Rankin, titled “Run Hide Fight.” The film is said to be about four kids who attempt a school shooting. “Run Hide Fight” stars Isabel May, Thomas Jane, and Radha Mitchell. The film is produced by Cinestate’s Dallas Sonnier, who previously worked on the aforementioned ‘Brawl’ and ‘Dragged.’ So, let’s just say this will be an interesting film, based on politics alone, as Sonnier is one of the more controversial figures making films today.
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Venice boss Alberto Barbera said:
“We are thankful to Luca Guadagnino who in ‘Fiori, Fiori, Fiori!’ takes us along on the short, personal escape he made during the recent lockdown, in search of the people, places and relationships of his youth; and to the producer Dallas Sonnier (the producer of ‘Brawl in Cell Block 99’ and ‘Dragged Across Concrete,’ presented at the 2017 and 2018 Venice Film Festival, respectively) who returns with ‘Run Hide Fight’ by Kyle Rankin, a provocative drama set in a school taken hostage by four students intent on carrying out a massacre. Two irreducibly different models of filmmaking, which are the expression, however, of an identical and compelling creative energy”.
The 2020 Venice Film Festival begins on September 2.
Here are first looks at both films:
