The Web Theatre at the 78th Venice Film Festival

A remarkably rich selection of 22 feature-length films and 14 short films (the latter may be viewed free of charge) from around the world constitutes the line-up for the Sala Web Theatre of the 78^th Venice International Film Festival (1 – 11 September 2021) of La Biennale di Venezia, directed by Alberto Barbera.

For the tenth consecutive year, Venice’s Sala Web Theatre makes it possible to watch the world premieres of significant films from the official selection of the Venice Film Festival. The films will be streamed concurrently with the official presentations of the films on the Lido, with a limit on the number of viewers.

Short films
The 14 short films, available free of charge around the world, may be viewed from the website www.labiennale.org, with screenings hosted on behalf of the Venice Film Festival on the website operated by Festival Scope www.festivalscope.com. The films in the line-up include two Italian short films, Preghiera della sera (Diario di una passeggiata) (17’) by Giuseppe Piccioni and Il turno (14’) by Chiara Marotta and Loris Giuseppe Nese, as well as Sad Film (12’) by Vasili (pseudonym), about the street protests that followed the coup d’état in Myanmar.

Feature-length films
The 22 feature-length films, visible only to viewers within the territory of Italy, and selected from the Out of Competition, Orizzonti, Orizzonti Extra and Biennale College Cinema sections of the 78^th Venice Film Festival, may be watched from the website www.labiennale.org, in screenings hosted on the website operated by MYmovies.it at the address www.mymovies.it/ondemand/biennalecinema/, on the new Biennale Cinema Channel streaming platform.

The feature-length films available online include 6 Italian films. They are Ariaferma by Leonardo Di Costanzo (Out of Competition), La ragazza ha volato by Wilma Labate (Orizzonti Extra), the documentaries Viaggio nel crepuscolo by Augusto Contento (Out of Competition) and La macchina delle immagini di Alfredo C. by Roland Sejko (Orizzonti Extra), as well as two films from the Biennale College Cinema, La Tana by Beatrice Baldacci and La Santa Piccola by Silvia Brunelli.

The 22 feature-length films of the Sala Web Theatre join the library of 40 films on the new Biennale Channel Cinema streaming platform, which features, in collaboration with MYmovies, a significant selection of films to rediscover from the 2007 to 2020 editions of the Venice International Film Festival, films never released before in Italy.

For the screenings of the short films worldwide, viewers must first register on www.festivalscope.com to view the selected film free of charge. Each title (in the original language version with subtitles) will be available in streaming starting at 6 pm (Italian time) on the day of the official premiere of the film on the Lido and through September 26^th 2021, with a limit on the number of viewers.

To view the feature-length films within the territory of Italy, in the original language version with subtitles in Italian, viewers may purchase a one-month subscription for € 7.90, a three-month subscription for € 19.90, or a one-year subscription for € 70.00 at the web addresses www.labiennale.org and www.mymovies.it/ondemand/biennalecinema/ on the new Biennale Cinema Channel streaming platform. Each film will be streamed at a specific time, simulating a traditional screening, after which the film will be available for the next five days until the end of the screening programme.

starting Thursday 2 September

THE CATHEDRAL by Ricky D’AMBROSE (USA, 87’, o.v. English s/t Italian) with Brian d’Arcy James, Monica Barbaro – Restricted Under-14 – BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

starting Friday 3 September

LA RAGAZZA HA VOLATO by Wilma LABATE (Italy, Slovenia, 93’, o.v. English s/t Italian) with Alma Noce, Luka Zunic – ORIZZONTI EXTRA

starting Saturday 4 September

AMIRA by Mohamed DIAB (Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, 98’, o.v. Arabic/Hebrew s/t Italian/English) with Saba Mubarak, Ali Suliman – ORIZZONTI

NUESTROS DÍAS MÁS FELICES by Sol BERRUEZO PICHON-RIVIÈRE (Argentina, 100’, o.v. Spanish s/t English/Italian) with Matilde Creimer Chiabrando, Lide Uranga – Restricted Under-14 – BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

starting Sunday 5 September

ARIAFERMA by Leonardo DI COSTANZO (Italy, Switzerland, 117’, o.v. Italian s/t English) with Toni Servillo, Silvio Orlando – OUT OF COMPETITION

starting Monday 6 September

7 PRISIONEIROS by Alexandre MORATTO (Brazil, 90’, o.v. Portuguese/French/Spanish/Korean s/t Italian/English) with Christian Malheiros, Rodrigo Santoro – ORIZZONTI EXTRA

LA TANA by Beatrice BALDACCI (Italy, 88’, o.v. Italian s/t English) with Irene Vetere, Lorenzo Aloi – Restricted Under-14 – BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

EL GRAN MOVIMIENTO by Kiro RUSSO (Bolivia, France, Qatar, Switzerland, 85’, o.v. Spanish s/t Italian/English) with Julio Cézar Ticona, Max Eduardo Bautista Uchasara – ORIZZONTI

starting Tuesday 7 September

OLD HENRY by Potsy PONCIROLI (USA, 99’, o.v. English s/t Italian/English) with Tim Blake Nelson, Scott  Haze – OUT OF COMPETITION

BODENG SAR (WHITE BUILDING) by Kavich NEANG (Cambodia, France, China, Qatar, 90’, o.v. Khmer s/t Italian/English) with Piseth Chhun, Sithan Hout – ORIZZONTI

MA NUIT by Antoinette BOULAT (France, Belgium, 87’, o.v. French s/t Italian/English) with Lou Lampros, Tom Mercier – ORIZZONTI EXTRA

AL ORIENTE by José María AVILÉS (Ecuador, 100’, o.v. Spanish/English s/t English/Italian) with Alejandro Espinosa, Paulet Arévalo – Restricted Under-14 – BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

MON PÈRE, LE DIABLE by Ellie FOUMBI, Joseph MASTANTUONO (USA, 107’, o.v. French/Mandinka s/t English/Italian) with Babetida Sadjo, Souleymane  Sy Savané – Restricted Under-18 – BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

starting Wednesday 8 September

PILIGRIMAI (PILGRIMS) by Laurynas BAREISA (Lithuania, 92’, o.v. Lithuanian s/t Italian/English) with Gabija Bargailaite, Giedrius Kiela – ORIZZONTI

SOKEA MIES, JOKA EI HALUNNUT NÄHDÄ TITANICIA (THE BLIND MAN WHO DID NOT WANT TO SEE TITANIC) by Teemu NIKKI (Finland, 82’, o.v. Finnish/English s/t Italian/English) with Petri Poikolainen, Marjaana Maijala – ORIZZONTI EXTRA

LA SANTA PICCOLA by Silvia BRUNELLI (Italy, 97’, o.v. Italian s/t English) with Francesco Pellegrino, Vincenzo Antonucci – Restricted Under-18 – BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA

starting Thursday 9 September

VIAGGIO NEL CREPUSCOLO by Augusto CONTENTO (France, Italy, 142’, o.v. Italian/German/French/English s/t English) – OUT OF COMPETITION

EL OTRO TOM by Rodrigo PLÁ, Laura SANTULLO (Mexico, USA, 111’, o.v. English/Spanish s/t Italian/English) with Julia Chávez, Israel Rodriguez Bertorelli – ORIZZONTI

MAMA, YA DOMA (MAMA, I’M HOME) by Vladimir BITOKOV (Russia, 104’, o.v. Russian s/t Italian/English) with Kseniya Rappoport, Yuriy Borisov – ORIZZONTI EXTRA

starting Friday 10 September

NOSORIH (RHINO) by Oleh SENTSOV (Ukraine, Poland, Germany, 101’, o.v. Ukrainian/Russian s/t Italian/English) with Serhii Filimonov, Yevhen Chernykov – Restricted Under-18 – ORIZZONTI

WELA (ANATOMY OF TIME) by Jakrawal NILTHAMRONG (Thailand, France, Netherlands, Singapore, 118’, o.v. Thai s/t Italian/English) with Thaveeratana Leelanuja, Prapamonton Eiamchan – ORIZZONTI

LA MACCHINA DELLE IMMAGINI  DI ALFREDO C. by Roland SEJKO (Italy, 76’, o.v. Italian s/t English) with Pietro De Silva – ORIZZONTI EXTRA

starting Thursday 9 September

PREGHIERA DELLA SERA (DIARIO DI UNA PASSEGGIATA) by Giuseppe PICCIONI (Italy, 17’, o.v. Italian s/t English) – ORIZZONTI SHORT FILMS – OUT OF COMPETITION

MULAQAT (SANDSTORM) by Seemab GUL (Pakistan, 20’, o.v. Urdu s/t Italian/English) with Parizae Fatima, Hamza Mushtaq – ORIZZONTI – SHORT FILMS

TOU SHENG, JI DAN, ZUO YE BEN (HAIR TIE, EGG, HOMEWORK BOOKS) by Luo RUNXIAO (China, 15’, o.v. Mandarin s/t Italian/English) with Junyan Miao, Yanglai Wang – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE by Shaima AL-TAMIMI (Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, USA, Netherlands, 9’, o.v. English/Arabic s/t Italian/English) – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

HELTZEAR by Mikel GURREA (Spain, 17’, o.v. Basque s/t Italian/English) with Haizea Oses, Mikel Arruti  – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

IL TURNO by Chiara MAROTTA, Loris Giuseppe NESE (Italy, 14’, o.v. Italian/Neapolitan dialect s/t English) with Rossella De Martino, Racheal Emmanuel – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

starting Friday 10 September

ATO by Bárbara PAZ (Brazil, 20’, o.v. Portuguese s/t Italian/English) with Alessandra Maestrini, Eduardo Moreira – ORIZZONTI SHORT FILMS – OUT OF COMPETITION

DESCENTE (4 AM) by Mehdi FIKRI (France, 11’, o.v. French s/t Italian/English) with Jeanne Rosa, Jisca Kalvanda – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

LOS HUESOS by Cristóbal LEÓN, Joaquín COCIÑA (Chile, 14’, o.v. Spanish s/t Italian/English) animation – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

PID POKATI MAI (NEW ABNORMAL) by Sorayos PRAPAPAN (Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, 15’, o.v. Thai s/t Italian/English) with Kant Kantapiti, Nattapong Pipattanasub – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

FALL OF THE IBIS KING by Josh O’CAOIMH, Mikai GERONIMO (Ireland, 10’, o.v. English s/t Italian/English) animation – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

TECHNO, MAMA by Saulius BARADINSKAS (Lithuania, 18’, o.v. Lithuanian s/t Italian/English) with Motjejus Aškelovičius, Neringa Varnelytė – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

KANOYAMA (THE LAST DAY) by YAMASHITA Momi (Japan, 19’, o.v. Japanese s/t Italian/English) with Yamada Maho, Kato Shinsuke – ORIZZONTI  SHORT FILMS

SAD FILM by VASILI (Myanmar, Netherlands, 12’, o.v. Burmese s/t Italian/English) – OUT OF COMPETITION – SHORT FILMS