La Biennale di Venezia announces the launch of Biennale College – Cinema, an advanced workshop for training, research and experimentation for the development and production of micro-budget audio-visual works, open to emerging directors and producers from around the world.

 

The project and the launch of the International Call for Proposals of the Biennale College – Cinema will be presented at the Lido di Venezia on Friday 31 August at 2:30 p.m., at the Palazzo del Casinò, Press Conference Room / Perla 2 (3rd floor), by the President of the Biennale Paolo Baratta and by the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera.

The project will be organized by the Biennale di Venezia in partnership with Gucci.

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The Biennale di Venezia has revitalized its mission in every field. It has enhanced the activities it pursues to further the public’s knowledge (Exhibitions, Festival) with a strategic programme to train young artists, the Biennale College. Firmly established in the areas of Dance and Theatre, it is enriched by this important initiative in the field of Cinema.

 

“The Biennale di Venezia - stated President Baratta – hereby intends to become a national and international point of reference for creativity in each artistic discipline, including cinema, by welcoming the great masters along with young talents, and offering them development opportunities for a productive future”.

 

 

Biennale College – Cinema intends to select filmmakers from all around the world, to work beside an international team of experts and tutors to explore the aesthetics of micro-budget films and new integrated production models. Following an initial 10-day workshop in Venice for 15 projects selected in January 2013, up to 3 teams will be invited to participate in a second fifteen-day workshop between the months of February and March, and will be given a grant of 150,000 euro to produce and present the finished project at the 70th Venice International Film Festival 2013.

Biennale College is made possible by the collaboration with American, European and Middle-Eastern institutions such as the IFP, TorinoFilmLab and the Dubai International Film Festival and by the support, for the year 2012, of the General Direction for Cinema of the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Regione del Veneto.

 

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Patrizio di Marco, President and CEO of Gucci commented: “We are extremely pleased and honoured to extend our historical partnership with La Biennale di Venezia through this important new initiative. “Biennale College – Cinema” is an innovative and powerful project, which is very much in line with Gucci’s longstanding commitment to the preservation, promotion and celebration of the art of cinema, acknowledging the impact of motion pictures on the cultural and artistic legacies of current and future generations. 

 

Besides the values of artisanal craftsmanship, made in Italy, creativity and innovation for which Gucci is perhaps best known, having a sense of responsibility towards people, society and the environment is also fundamental to the way in which we conduct our business.

It is with this philosophy in mind and taking inspiration from a rich and unique heritage with Hollywood and cinema dating back to the 1940s that we have made a long-term commitment to preserve the legacies of visionary filmmakers from the past, to support contemporary filmmakers of today, and to celebrate the achievements of women across all disciplines of the film industry. Our ongoing collaborations with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation; the creation of Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, together with the Tribeca Film Institute; the annual Gucci Women in Cinema Award at the Venice International Film Festival; and, our fundraising gala dinner with LACMA in support of its film program, are all strategic partnerships which testify to our long-term commitment to the art of filmmaking.