Quentin Tarantino To Head Venice Film Fest Jury; Tree Of Life To Debut At The Fest?
Quentin Tarantinohas led the jury at Cannes, in 2004, but his experience at theVenice Film Festivalhas been limited to programming a couple of sidebars in ‘04 and ‘07. That changes this year, as the fest has named Tarantino head of the 2010 competition jury for the festival which will run from September 1-11. So what films is he likely to be judging?
Along with the news of the selection of Tarantino,Varietyreports on a handful of films that are likely to appear on the schedule. They include:
Somewhere, directed bySofia Coppola. Previously a Cannes hopeful, the film won’t be seen this month in part because of Coppola’s pregnancy, the film featuresStephen Dorffas “a bad-boy A-List actor stumbling through a life of excess while living at Hollywood’s legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel.“Miral, directed byJulian Schnabel. His follow-up to his pair of 2007 filmsThe Diving Bell and the ButterflyandBerlin, which starsFreida Pintoas “a refugee camp teacher in post-war Jerusalem.“Potiche, directed byFrancois Ozon.Catherine DenueveandGerard Depardieustar in the film that adapts a play set in a ‘bourgeois province’ in 1977. Was possibly to appear at Cannes, but will now bow at Venice.Road to Nowhere, directed byMonte Hellman. His first feature in twenty years. It’s a ‘romantic thriller’ withDominique Swain,Shannyn Sossamon,Cliff De Young, andJohn Diehlin “the noirish tale of a young filmmaker who becomes enmeshed in a criminal scheme while making a movie on location.” Hellman’s segment of the omnibus horror filmTrapped Ashes(2006) wasn’t that great, but I’ll be optimistic about a new feature from the guy that madeTwo-Lane BlacktopandCockfighter.
But the big question is: will Apparition andTerrence Malickdecide that Venice is the prime spot to debutTree of Life? The film won’t be at Cannes, so Venice seems like a very likely option. But imagine the shock and squeals of surprise if the film shows up in a surprise screening at Telluride instead. What’s more valuable: the foreign press fawning over Brad Pitt and Sean Penn if they arrive in Venice, or the smaller pocket of critical appreciation that might follow a surprise Telluride bow? Probably the foreign press, but a Telluride debut would be appreciably ballsy.
