Venice selections for supported titles and talent

The 81st Venice International Film Festival takes place from 28 August to 7 September 2024. An array of titles and talent supported by IFFR Pro and the Hubert Bals Fund feature across the Competition, Orizzonti and Immersive selections, as well as in the Gap-Financing Market. 

Competition 

Stranger Eyes dir. Siew Hua Yeo, Singapore, Taiwan, France

Siew Hua Yeo’s second feature, after the acclaimed A Land Imagined (IFFR 2019), makes history as the first film from Singapore to compete for the Golden Lion. Developing the neo-noir mystery style of the filmmaker’s debut, Stranger Eyes follows a young couple with a missing daughter as they investigate the voyeur sending them videos of their most intimate moments. 

The film was presented at CineMart in 2019 and is co-produced by Daniel Koh, a 2022 Rotterdam Lab graduate.

Youth (Homecoming) dir. Wang Bing, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands

The third in Wang Bing’s monumental series of documentaries on textile workers in Zhili centres around New Year celebrations as many return home. Youth (Spring) premiered in Cannes in 2023, and Youth (Hard Times) is set for its Locarno 2024 premiere. 

The film received Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) Development Support in 2014 and NFF+HBF co-production funds in 2019.

Orizzonti

The Orizzonti competition is dedicated to trailblazing work and gives special attention to debut titles. 

Carissa dir. Jason Jacobs & Devon Delmar, South Africa

The debut feature by South African writer-director duo Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar is a coming-of-age story that touches on cultural reclamation with a hint of magical realism. It follows a young woman in a village who must decide whether to take a job on a new golf estate that will be built over her estranged grandfather’s rooibos tea lands. 

The project was presented at CineMart in 2022. 

Pooja, Sir dir. Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal, USA, Norway

Deepak Rauniyar presented White Sun at IFFR 2017 that grappled with the end of civil war in Nepal. Pooja, Sir continues an investigation into fractures in Nepalese society, this time in the form of a police procedural thriller, as Detective Inspector Pooja travels to solve a kidnapping in a border town gripped by violent protest. 

The film was awarded HBF Development funds and was presented at CineMart in 2017. 

Happyend dir. Neo Sora, Japan, US

Rotterdam Lab graduate Aiko Masubuchi co-produces Neo Sora’s Happyend, featuring two teenagers navigating their friendship in a near-future Tokyo where earthquakes are a part of the fabric of lives.

Venice Immersive

Duchampiana dir. Lilian Hess, France, Germany

Featured in the Venice Immersive section is Duchampiana by artist and director Lilian Hess, in the out of competition Biennale College Cinema selection. Presented as a work-in-progress at Darkroom at IFFR 2024 after its CineMart presentation in 2022, it won the Eurimages New Lab Award – Outreach with the €30,000 prize. Inspired by Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, this immersive installation invites viewers on a journey up an infinite staircase.

Gap Financing Market

The three-day Venice Gap-Financing Market presents 61 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding, and features a strong presence for HBF and CineMart-presented projects. 

• Amoeba dir. Siyou Tan, Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain. HBF Development, HBF+Europe, NFF+HBF.
• Celosos hombres blancos dir. Ivan Granovsky, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Germany. HBF Development, CineMart.
• Dengue dir. Prantik Basu, India, France, Netherlands. HBF Development. 
• If I See a Rainbow dir. Zhao Hao, China, France. HBF Development. 
• Marie & Jolie dir. Erige Sehiri, France, Tunisia, Qatar. HBF+Europe.
• No Good Men dir. Shahrbanoo Sadat, Germany,  France, Norway, Denmark. HBF Development, CineMart. 
• The Station dir. Sara Ishaq, Yemen, Jordan, France, Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Qatar. HBF Development, HBF+Europe, NFF+HBF, BoostNL, CineMart. 
• Tres noches negras dir. Theo Court, Chile, Spain. CineMart.