Venice Horizons selections include Jonathan Demme, Ross McElwee docs

A day in advance of the Venice Film Festival’s official competition line up – the Biennale has revealed the films in the Horizons (Orizzonti) section, which embraces films of different formats with an eye towards works that blur the line between conventional narrative film and the work of visual artists.

Twenty four features will be presented in the feature length section – which as previously announced will open with Iranian-born, US-based director Amir Naderi’s Japan-set Yakuza themed story Cut, starring Hidetoshi Nishijima (Dolls), Takashi Sasano (Departures) and Takako Tokiwa.

Other entries include Jonathan Demme’s documentary I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad And The Beautiful that follows a woman trying to pick up her life in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, multi-tasker James Franco’s Sal about doomed Hollywood icon Sal Mineo, and US documentary legend Ross McElwee with his latest, Photographic Memory.

From the UK’s Ben Rivers brings his debut Two Years At Sea, France’s Marina De Van will present Le Petit Poucet and Italy’s Pippo Delbono brings Amore Carne.

Belgium’s award winning visual artist and film-maker Nicolas Provost is also on board with his new work The Invader [pictured], featuring Stefania Rocca. He is also presenting a short called Moving Stories. Provost made a splash in the section last year with Stardust that featured never before footage of late actor Dennis Hopper.

Chile’s Jose Luis Torres Leiva brings Verano set in a thermal resort in Southern Chile after his The Sky, The Earth And The Rain made its way through many European festivals in 2008 and Japan’s actor-writer-director Shinya Tsukamoto brings Kotoko.

The section also offers a few eyebrow raisers: a provocatively titled French documentary Would You Have Sex With An Arab? By Yolande Zauberman is one such entry while some territories in themselves are so rarely seen as to merit attention: Samoan entry The Orator (O Le Tulafale) is a debut from Tusi Tamasese – the South Pacific Isle vies with the creative co-production combo of Thailand and Mexico with Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours by Rirkrit Tiravanija, also a debut.

The medium and short section is comprised of an additional 31 works ranging from 6-84 minutes in which India’s Amit Dutta brings Sonchidi and the UK’s Andrew Kotting brings Louyre – This Our Still Life are among titles on offer.

As previously announced, China’s Jia Zhangke will preside over the Orizzonti five-person jury and award the Orizzonti prize for features, the Orizzonti special jury prize and one prize each for medium and short works.

The Venice Film Festival runs Aug 31-Sept 10. The full line up will be announced Thursday.

The Films of Orizzonti 2011 are:

Features
Amir Naderi, Cut (opening film)
Yves Caumon, L’Oiseau
Amiel Courtin, Wilson Hail
Edgardo Cozarinsky, Nocturnos
Pippo Delbono, Amore Carne
Jonathan Demme, I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad And The Beautiful
James Franco, Sal
Michael Glawogger, Whores’ Glory
Romuald Karmakar, Die Herde Des Herrn
Kim Kyungmook, Stateless Things (Jultak dongshi)
Helvécio Marins Jr., Clarissa Campolina
Ross McElwee, Photographic Memory
Nicolas Provost, The Invader
Simon Pummell, Shock Head Soul
Ben Rivers, Two Years at Sea
Gurvinder Singh, Aims Of The Blind Horse (Anhey ghorhey da daan)
Tusi Tamasese, The Orator (O le tulafale)
Rirkrit Tiravanija, Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours
José Luis Torres Leiva, Verano
Shinya Tsukamoto, Kotoko
Marina de Van, Le Petit Poucet
Teresa Villaverde, Swan (Cisne)
Xu Haofen, The Sword Identity (Wokou de zongji)
Yolande Zauberman, Would You Have Sex with an Arab?

Orizzonti medium and short length films

Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt, The Last Generation of Portugal (Palácios de pena)
Ammar Al-Beik, The Sun’s Incubator (Hadinat al shams)
Yuri Ancarani, Piattaforma Luna
Mauro Andrizzi & Marcus Lindeen, Accidentes gloriosos
Josef Dabernig, Hypercrisis                             
Felice D’Agostino & Arturo Lavorato, In attesa dell’avvento
Mati Diop, Snow Canon
Amit Dutta, Sonchidi
Heinz Emigholz,  Parabeton - Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete [work-in-progress]
FLATFORM, Movimenti di un tempo impossibile
Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci-Lucchi, Notes sur nos voyages en Russie 1989-1990
Christoph Giradet & Matthias Muller, Meteor
Mattias Gustafsson,  Start
Isamu Hirabayashi, 663114
Devin Horan, Late and Deep
Andrew Kotting, Louyre – This Our Still Life
Charles Yi Yong Lim, All The Lines Flow Out
Wattanapume Laisuwanchai, Passing Through the Night
Mark Lewis, Black Mirror at the National Gallery
Mirai Mizue, Modern N° 2

Orizzonti Events
Eija-Liisa Ahtila, The Annunciation
Pietro Marcello, Il Silenzio Di Pepesjan
Andrey Silvestrov, Yuri Leiderman, Birmingham Ornament
Wim Vandekeybus, Monkey Sandwich