Luce Cinecittà is among the leading actors at the 81^st Venice Film Festival, as the co-producer of two official selected documentaries, as announced by director Alberto Barbera. Volonté. L’uomo dai mille volti by Francesco Zippel, and Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari by Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti are in Competition in the Venice Classics category.

Among the nominated films shot in Cinecittà is the TV series M. Son of the Century (Out of Competition) by Joe Wright, shot in Theater 18, Queer (In Competition) by Luca Guadagnino, who rebuilt an entire Mexico City neighborhood in the Studios, and the Festival’s closing film, The American BackYard by Pupi Avati.

Volonté. L’uomo dai mille volti

Year 2024 marks the 30^th death anniversary of Gian Maria Volonté, one of the most exceptional and beloved actors in the history of Italian cinema. Volonté. L’uomo dai mille volti retraces the actor’s personal and artistic journey, describing how he is still a fundamental milestone for the most important contemporary performers, who, alongside his family and friends, recount the story of his unique and topical relevance, leading us to the discovery of the themes that defined his artistic and militant journey. The movie is enriched by images, clips and unreleased footage, and features testimonies from Giovanna Gravina Volonté, Fabrizio Gifuni, Valeria Golino, Valerio Mastandrea, Marco Bellocchio, Margarethe Von Trotta, Felice Laudadio, Daniele Vicari, Angelica Ippolito, Mirko Capozzoli, Gianna Giachetti, Pierfrancesco Favino, Jean A. Gili, Toni Servillo, Fabio Ferzetti, Gianna Gissi, Giuliano Montaldo.

The documentary film written and directed by Francesco Zippel will be presented in competition at the 81^st Venice International Film Festival in the Venice Classics -Documentaries on Cinema category. Volonté. L’uomo dai mille volti is a co-production by Quoiat Films, Rai Documentari and Luce Cinecittà soon to be released in theaters by Lucky Red.

“Volonté’s choices have always been strongly connected to his intimate desire to disclose characters that echoed with his curiosity and desire to mirror fragments of a historical mosaic,” says Francesco Zippel, “With Volonté. L’uomo dai mille volti I have tried to depict a profile of this complex and fascinating man, in a journey that has led me to encounter some of the most important personalities of our contemporary cinema, artists who have kept a continuous interior ‘dialogue’ with Gian Maria Volonté.”

Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari

After presenting Spira Mirabilis in the Official Competition in 2016, the short film Blu in 2018, and Guerra e pace in the Orizzonti Competition in 2020, the documentary duo Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti return to Venice with an “encyclopedia” documentary, divided into three acts, each on a single subject: animals, plants, stones. A tribute to those “unknown” worlds, and in some ways alien, made of animals, plants and minerals, which we too often take for granted, but that request constant dialogue as the quintessential aspect of our existence on planet Earth. Closely linked, the episodes depict a unique dramaturgic development, through three different staging devices, since each act is a tribute to a specific film documentary genre.

Bestiari is a found-footage episode on how and why cinema has obsessively represented animals; Erbari is a poetic observation documentary that takes place in the Botanical Garden of Padua; finally, Lapidari is an industrial episode on the transformation of stone within collective memory. A unique chorus of protagonists that talks about us through multifaceted voices and sounds while preserving our knowledge.

Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari is a sentimental journey through the culture, science and art of our old continent. The film will be distributed by Luce Cinecittà starting from October 2024.

“We believe that our task is to ‘re-invent’ a vision and a representation of reality and try to establish vital relationships between the elements that make up the work’s frames and shots,” Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti explain, “In doing so, we do not seek ‘realism’, but a representation of reality and the opportunity to collect the stories, tales, and self-reflection as human beings. Moviegoers can then add their own baggage of experience, interests, readings or cinematic visions.”

Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari is a Montmorency Film production with Rai Cinema and Lomotion and SRF Schweizer Radio Und Fernsehen / SRG SSR and with the support of MIC, Euimages and the contribution of PR FESR Lombardia 2021-2027 – Call for proposals “Lombardy per il cinema” Fondo Sviluppo Italia Francia and with the support of Berner Filmförderung, Burgergemeinde Bern in association with Luce Cinecittà with the participation of Eye Filmmuseum, Cinémathèque Suisse. International Sales: Fandango Sales.