Once again this year, the 17th edition of Giornate degli Autori will be running from Wednesday, September 2nd (the opening day of the Venice Film Festival) until Saturday, September 12th. With Andrea Purgatori as president and Giorgio Gosetti serving as General Delegate, the event has a new Artistic Director this year, Gaia Furrer, and several other novelties are in store for this independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival, promoted by the Italian filmmakers' associations ANAC and 100autori

The first is the overall character of the program, the theme of which is courage, in response to the difficult times the global film industry is living through. That industry sees Venice as a vital occasion to reaffirm the power of creativity and filmmaking in the wake of a collective tragedy that the world will never forget.

The second novelty is the idea of having different voices joining forces in the name of a common vision of the intrinsic value of cinema, the commitment to culture, and the desire to rise to the challenge of the current crisis. Hence our collaboration with Bookciak, Azione! (a Giornate mainstay, by now, co-hosted by SNGCI, on the eve of the Venice Film Festival), and also with Laguna Sud, which brings the Giornate experience and that of ZaLab to Chioggia ahead of Venice and its official venues, outdoors under the August sky. And of course Miu Miu Women's Tales, with its focus on female creativity  that rounds out our offerings. And starting this year, Giornate pairs up with Edipo Re (which has organized the event Isola Edipo on the Lido for years now) to design a new program of meetings, screenings and social initiatives which sees Venetian Nights moving to another first, the Isola degli Autori, with a lineup of films jointly selected to reflect the inclusivity and dialogue between the arts that have always been the hallmark of Isola Edipo.

The third novelty lies in the organizational structure of Giornate degli Autori itself. The General Delegate will continue to preside over the operational side of the showcase in Venice, while also pinpointing a broader cultural strategy for the rest of the year, together with our filmmakers. As for the official selection itself, fresh vision and guidance will be provided by the new Artistic Director Gaia Furrer, assisted by a selection committee and a key team of consultants and programmers brought in to handle the substantial increase in submissions this year : over a thousand.

"In an objectively challenging year that will go down as unique in the annals of the Venice Film Festival," claims Andrea Purgatori, "Giornate has set off on a path of renewal and growth that will project us into the future. In light of this, we would like to relaunch our founding principles, which were to go beyond the idea of a showcase of works by our filmmakers and create the year-long program of experimentation and debate that filmmakers expect of us, as they grapple with the changes underway that are transforming us all."

"Together with Laguna Sud before the Festival starts, and Isola Edipo during the event,» says Giorgio Gosetti, "we have boosted our involvement with the local area and Europe at large, by teaming up with two youth-oriented organizations that can guarantee top-notch content. The Venetian Nights lineup (selected jointly by Gaia Furrer and Silvia Jop) points the way to a fruitful collective effort, while our vital collaboration with the European Parliament's LUX Prize and its project 27 Times Cinema, with a rising young talent such as Nadav Lapid as our jury president, is further proof of Giornate's international dimension. That dimension is reflected in the many nationalities present in our official selection and gives Giornate a strong brand awareness that enables our films to travel the world. »

The 2020 poster for Giornate degli Autori, designed by PIZZETTIePARTNER, shows a woman doing a cannonball into the water: a confident gesture, explosive but also dreamlike, suspended in time. It's an image that perfectly represents our current state of mind as we take on a new challenge.

The numbers for Giornate this year? Ten films in competition, 4 special events, 25 nationalities in the official selection, 5 first films and 10 women in the director's chair (including those under the aegis of Miu Miu Women's Tales). The closing film has been directed by one of Giornate's ‘resident directors', Bruce LaBruce, in his usual refreshingly irreverent style. There are 8 titles on the redesigned Venetian Nights lineup.

For the third year in a row, Giornate degli Autori teams up with Isola Edipo to present "Cinema of Inclusivity - a tribute to master filmmakers of world cinema", dedicated this year to Italy's own Liliana Cavani.

And as always, the films in the official selection vie for the Europa Cinemas Label, the BNL - Gruppo BNP Paribas Audience Award, and the GdA Director's Award assigned by the official Giornate jury. They are also in the running for the Venice Film Festival's collateral prizes as well as the Lion of the Future, reserved for first works premiering in all sections of the Festival.

Once again this year, Giornate degli Autori is made possible by MiBACT's Directorate General for Cinema, its main sponsor BNL - Gruppo BNP Paribas, along with Miu Miu for the Women's Tales showcase and SIAE for the Lifetime Achievement Award; as well as the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education for the LUX Film Prize and the 27 Times Cinema project, the digital platform MYmovies, our media partners and our traditional technical partner; and the Veneto Region and the city of Chioggia for Laguna Sud. As well as, it goes without saying, the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia and the organizers of the Venice Film Festival.