Synopses taken from the catalogue of the 64th Venice International Film Festival

published by Electa

Barbara Cupisti

Madri

The stories of conflicts and private dramas, that recount history, are revealed through the experiences of mothers who live in war ravaged lands, with the ever constant fear that their children will never return. The pain of losing a child, whether he be victim or killer, is profound, destructive, unjust and senseless. The suffering caused by the loss of a relative is universal whatever the race or creed. Getting to know oneself in those moments helps lead to understanding. Israeli and Palestinian mothers, who have experienced such terrible drama, help us to understand it through their accounts. The mothers who testify all have different viewpoints, social and cultural backgrounds yet they all agree that no more innocents must pay for faults which are not their own. It is neither a political nor deontological message which touches our hearts. They are stories of pain and anger in a land where forgiveness no longer exists. The parents of the Parents Circle (the only organisation which unites Palestinian and Israeli parents of victims) explain how they are trying to build a better future for the generations to come.  

Tonino De Bernardi

Médée Miracle

Irène, is a current day representation of Medea, a heroine from Greek mythology. She abandons her homeland to marry Jason, a Frenchman. They settle in Paris’ banlieu and have two daughters and eventually become the owners of a bistrot-boite. Her strong feelings of being out of place and her guilt for turning her back on her homeland finally drive Jason into the arms of a Frenchwoman who is socially more acceptable and who is mayor of Pantin’s daughter. Irène remains alone with her her daughters and Martha, a young speech impaired girl whom she had brought with her from home and to whom she is very close. To avenge herself against Jason, she betrays him with the clients of the bistrot until her loose conduct finally leads her loses her daughter. She ends up on the brink of madness caught in a maze of obsessions but she does not kill children and rivals like the Medea of mythology, but rather inflicts violence on herself until she succumbs to a devastating nervous breakdown. Martha’s intervention saves her. The life of the two women changes radically: they seek refuge in the country and little by little Irène is reborn as she begins to show an interest in herself and in others. Everything begins when she hears about Marcella, a Rumanian girl who is forced into prostitution and develops cancer. She sees her as the symbol of all exploited women. She would like to help her and all those who suffer but it requires a strength which she does not yet possess.  

Jonathan Demme

Jimmy Carter Man from Plains

An intimate, surprising encounter with President Jimmy Carter. Following the path of Mr. Carter’s recent controversial book tour for Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, he is revealed as a complex individual who, with the gusto and determination of a youngster, criss-crosses the country to get his message across, even as that message creates a media onslaught in which his credibility and judgment are called into question. An exploration of both the private and public sides of Jimmy Carter, whose intense sense of justice compels him to pursue, with undiminished energy and hope, his lifelong and deeply spiritual vision of reconciliation and peace.

Arnaud Desplechin

L’Aimée

Arnaud Desplechin films his father who has just sold the family house. The emptying is the occasion to open drawers, browse old photos and read ancient post. The father chooses this moment to speak of his own mother Thérèse, who passed away when he was 18 months old. He has no memory from her, and yet he seems to know her very well.  

Lav Diaz

Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto

In November 30, 2006, super typhoon Reming struck the Philippines killing hundreds of people and burying villages around the Mayon volcano area in the Bicol region of the Philippines. Nine hours of relentless heavy rains and wind caused harrowing deaths and destruction. Volcanic debris, boulders, sand and mudflows covered the once verdant and serene place. The sight of the aftermath was apocalyptic. The typhoon was the strongest to hit the Philippines in living memory. The film’s discourse is on the death of beauty, death of aesthetics, how things can turn ugly. The great Filipino poet, Benjamin Agusan, returns to his birthplace, Padang, now buried. He was in Russia the past seven years, living there on a grant and a residency, taught and conducted workshops in a university. He kept writing poetry; published two books of sadness and longing in the process. He was shooting video collages, fell in love with a Slavic beauty, buried a son, and almost went mad. He came back to bury his dead – father, mother, sister and a lover. He came back to confront some issues, to face secrets, to heal wounds, or create more wounds. He came back to face Mayon, the raging beauty and muse of his youth. He came home to confront the country that he so loved and hated, the Philippines. His return is an aesthetic journey.