This year the dialogue between Italy and China is without a doubt a true standout at the Venice Film Festival. For the third year in a row, the China Film Forum, which will be held at the Villa degli Autori on September 2, after the "matchmaking" cocktails the night before to launch the event, is the centerpiece of Venice Days' international agenda.
Jointly promoted by Venice Days, the Sino-European co-production network
Bridging the Dragon, and the Italian documentary filmmakers' association
Doc/it, the 2016 China Film Forum focuses on filmmakers and the stories they bring to the screen; the different writing styles in the two film cultures (in the plenary session); and the best practices for co-productions between Europe and China, at the workshop organized by Bridging the Dragon and Doc/it (afternoon session).
The morning session will get underway with welcoming remarks by the presidents of the two Italian filmmakers' associations (
Francesco Bruni for
100autori and
Francesco Martinotti for
ANAC); filmmaker
Maurizio Sciarra will be moderating. Guest speakers include two of China's top screenwriters,
Shu Huan (the writer of the hit
Lost in Thailand) and
Yuan Yuan (writer of the Oscar-nominee
Go Away Mr. Tumor), as well as
Paolo Genovese, whose film
Perfect Strangers grabbed international acclaim after being a box office hit in Italy.
Following the talk, three success stories to come out of the artistic collaboration between Italy and China will be presented to Venice Days audiences:
Sergio Basso's documentary
The Long March, made with the support of the
Beijing TV Station;
Coffee by
Cristiano Bortone (the first official Sino-Italian co-production to be released in Italy and China); and
He Hui: The Soprano of the Silk Road (co-produced by
Agnese Fontana and
Duan Peng).