The twenty-sixth edition of the Turin Film Festival (November 21-29) has announced its line up under the artistic direction of Nanni Moretti.

It is Moretti's second year as artistic director of the event, which is dedicated to auteur and cutting edge fare.

As previously reported - the festival will kick off with director Oliver Stone on hand to present W., (Stone's portrait of outgoing US President George W. Bush) and which currently does not have Italian distribution.

This year, Turin's Feature Film Competition 'Torino 26' screens 15 works from first, second and third-time directors :

From the United States
  • The New Year Parade by Tom Quinn, which took the Slamdance Best Narrative Feature prize, is about a brother and sister picking up the pieces after their parent's divorce
  • Prince of Broadway by Sean Baker is a story of two men whose lives cross on the streets of the New York Fashion District. It won the LA Film Festival's top prize before receiving a Jury special mention from the Locarno Film Festival.
  • Momma's Man by Azazel Jacobs, a drama/comedy about a young man that moves back home with his parents after a split from his wife and kid.

From Europe:
  • Unspoken (Le Non Dit) from Belgian director Fien Troch, previously screened at Toronto, the film is about a couple coping with the disappearance of their daughter;
  • The Wave (Die Welle) had its premier at Sundance is the newest work from Germany's Dennis Gansel (brought to Italy via Bim Distribution). The film is based on Todd Strasser's novel about a sociology experiment gone wrong.

From Latin American

 Tony Manero by Pablo Larrain (to be distributed in Italy by Ripley's film) a Chile/Brazil co-production seen at the Cannes Director's Fortnight last spring and which has enjoyed a smattering of international sales.

Noise (Entre Os Dedos) by directors Tiago Guedes and Federico Serra about a worker who rebels poor work place conditions and is a Portugal/Brazil co-production.

The remaining eight titles in the main competition are first works.
The 15 films vying for Best Film honours are:

Bitter & Twisted - Christopher Weeks (Australia)
Tomorrow (Demain) - Maxime Giroux (Canada)
The Shaft (Dixia De Tiankong) - Chi Zhang (China)
Give Me Your Hand (Donne-Moi La Main) - Pascal-Alex Vincent (France/Germany)
Noise (Entre Os Dedos) - Tiago Guedes and Federico Serra (Portugal/Brazil)
Helen - Joe Lawlor and Christine Mollowy (Ireland)
Mein Freund Aus Faro -Nana Neul (Germany)
Momma's Man - Azazel Jacobs (USA)
The New Year Parade - Tom Quinn (USA)
We've Never Been To Venice - Blaz Kutin (Slovenia)
Unspoken (Le Non-Dit) - Fien Troch (Belgium)
Prince of Broadway - Sean Baker (USA)
Burn The Bridges (Quemar Las Naves) - Francisco Franco (Mexico)
Tony Manero - Pablo Larrain (Chile/Brazil)
The Wave (Die Welle) - Dennis Gansel (Germany)

Out of competition highlights include:

4 City (Er Shi Si Cheng Ji) from Jia Zhang Ke; The Edge of Love by John Maybury, Madonna's Filth And Wisdom, and Katyn by Poland's Andrzej Wajda (which made last year's Foreign Oscar shortlist) and is distributed in Italy by Movimento Film as well as US title Wendy and Lucy by Kelly Reichardt.


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