Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”) is at the Venice Film Festival in a new guise, as tutor of Biennale College Cinema, the workshop allowing emerging filmmakers to develop and produce micro-budget feature-length films, which is sponsored by Chanel.
Biennale College Cinemas was conceived 15 years ago by Venice chief Alberto Barbera in tandem with Torino Film Lab topper Savina Neirotti, who heads the unique Venice initiative.
During this time Biennale College has spawned 49 feature film projects made with micro-budgets with grants that after the first decade rose from €150,00 ($174,00) to €200,00 ($232) during the past five years. “These works provide a bird’s eye view of what it means to debut as a filmmaker today,” Neirotti noted.
“When Chanel told me about this program, I was very touched,” said Cotillard. “Above all, I think it’s very important to support films that are struggling to get off the ground financially these days,” she added.
“Not all films are destined to draw millions of viewers and turn a profit, and I think it’s very important to support artists — artists from all over the world – some of whom, even in their own countries, simply don’t have access to production opportunities,” she noted.
“And what’s really striking about the films I’ve seen — the four films I’ve seen – is their artistic passion; that need to tell stories,” Cotillard continued.
This year’s Biennale College projects, all first works, hail from China, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the U.S. They are: “Demeter in Exile,” by Italian director Maria Giovanna Cicciari who is teamed wth producer Raffaella Pontarelli. “Gu Shi” by Chinese director Yinan Song and produced by Yueyi Xing; “Moonfish,” by U.S. director Daniel Zvereff who is teamed with Spanish producer Mireia Villanova; and “Tijuana Todavía” by Mexian director Gabriel Gutierrez Morales working with producer Humberto Busto Marín.
Barbera also said he will soon be announcing the winner of the first edition of Biennale College Blend, the initiative’s new strand for artists looking to explore stories in the multi-media space comprising forms of expression such as music, visual arts, and performing arts.
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