The Venice of the Giornate degli Autori

This year, the fourteenth edition of the Giornate degli Autori is devoted to seeking out originality and diversity. Not to astonish, or provoke by riding the wave of easy titles, but to share the delight of discovery. Of celebrating difference. Of finding the ones who march to the beat of a different drummer.

The Giornate's General Delegate, Giorgio Gosetti, has this to say: "Our experience of viewing the films, which we shared this year with a group of programmers and experts whom we truly cannot thank enough, has taught us that there is an abundance of films out there that are very well made and thoroughly professional, but all too often fail to strike a chord with audiences. Surprise them. The fact that we select a handful of titles from all over the world allows us the privilege - and the challenge - of placing our bets on each filmmaker and each work as if it were unique, and all the more precious for that reason. We don't aspire to offering solely masterpieces in our official selection and special events; we do want audiences to be able to say after each viewing, "Well, it was well worth it, flying on the wings of this story. I'm glad I've made this filmmaker's acquaintance."

The Giornate degli Autori has always been much more than just a showcase of films yet to be released. "Ever since our debut," recalls Giornate President Roberto Barzanti, "we have stayed true to the mandate handed us by the film associations promoting us, now ANAC and 100autori. The essence of our event lies in the art of bringing people together, comparing notes, sparking discussions and experimentation. And our Villa degli Autori does just that. It's hosting a packed program of events again this year, thanks in large part to long-standing projects like 28 Times Cinema, promoted by the European Parliament's LUX Film Prize; Women's Tales, the film showcase we share with Miu Miu, and its conversations with filmmakers; and our ongoing investigation into the diverse transformations of the film medium in the digital age."

A look at the lineup for our 2017 official selection reveals a well-deserved attention to Italian films, at a vibrant and courageous time in the industry; as well as important new works by Giornate alumni such as China's Pengfei, Morocco's Faouzi Bensaïdi, Italy's Vincenzo Marra, Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini; not to mention hotly-awaited titles by Canada's Kim Nguyen, Iran's Shirin Neshat, and Thailand's Pen-ek Ratanaruang.

Add to that superlative events such as the long-lost documentary by Ermanno Olmi that, thanks to the efforts of researchers at the Istituto Luce, plunges us into Milan in the 1960s and a pioneering season in psychoanalysis, as well; or the American biopic Agnelli that offers a whole new perspective on one of the post-war era's major international figures; or the deeply unsettling Il risoluto by Giovanni Donfrancesco, which dusts off a forgotten page of Italian history: that of the "child soldiers" in the death throes of fascism.

We think it all makes for eleven days of great film and great film personalities, too, talks with the public and entertainment. It's hardly a coincidence, then, that two of the special events we're most fond of are the American comedy Thirst Street by Nathan Silver (courtesy of a collaboration with the Tribeca Film Festival) and the touching close-up look at burlesque, Getting Naked by James Lester.

The Giornate degli Autori awaits you in Venice with its: