'Milk Teeth'

Source: deFilm

‘Milk Teeth’

Venice 2025 Horizons titles include films from Ali Asgari, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Kent Jones and Mark Jenkin. The Venice Film Festival runs August 27-September 6.

Barrio Triste (Col-US)

Dir. Stillz
Colombian-American music video director and photographer Stillz, who has worked with musicians Bad Bunny and Rosalia, makes his debut on this Medellin-set coming-of-age story with a twist. It is 1987 and a group of teen outcasts steal a news camera to document their dangerous lives. Harmony Korine’s Edglrd collective produced the film starring Juan Pablo Baena, Samuel Velazquez, Tomas Tinoco Higuita and Bryan Erlin Garcia.
Contact: UTA Independent Film Group  

Divine Comedy (Iran-It-Fr-Ger-Turkey)

Dir. Ali Asgari
Following his Horizons jury service last year, and a Horizons launch in 2017 for his debut feature Disappearance, Asgari returns with a satire about an Iranian filmmaker and his fight to overcome the state’s censorship laws. The film draws on personal experience: the Iranian director faced a travel ban and had belongings confiscated after his Terrestrial Verses (jointly directed with Alireza Khatami) screened at Cannes in 2023. Asgari produces with Milad Khosravi (Terrestrial Verses). Co-producers include Turkey’s Kadraj Film, France’s Salt For Sugar Films, Germany’s Studio Zentral and Italy’s Zoe Films.
Contact: Flavien Eripret, Goodfellas  

Father (Slovakia-Czech-Pol)

Dir. Tereza Nvotova
Father is the third film from Slovak director Nvotova, who won the Golden Leopard in Locarno’s 2022 filmmakers of the present competition for feminist horror-drama Nightsiren. Inspired by a true story, Father follows a devoted father whose life is shattered by a single tragic mistake, pushing his marriage and his will to live to the brink. Last year, Father won the Screen International award at MIA Market’s work-in-­progress programme C EU Soon. It stars Milan Ondrik, winner of the best actor award at Karlovy Vary in 2019 for Let There Be Light, Dominika Moravkova and Anna Geisler.
Contact: Intramovies 

Funeral Casino Blues (Ger)

Dir. Roderick Warich
Germany-born Warich was a co-writer on Timm Kröger’s 2023 Venice Competition entry The Universal Theory, and returns with his second feature as director, following 2017’s 2557. The new drama centres on a woman who suddenly disappears in Bangkok, prompting her roommate and a bartender to follow her trail. It is produced by Berlin-­based The Barricades in co-­production with 2557-Films. Warich was also lead writer of 2014 Venice Critics’ Week title The Council Of Birds and he co-wrote 2020 Berlinale Encounters title The Trouble With Being Born.
Contact: Pluto Film

Human Resource (Thai)

Dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
This intimate drama explores con- temporary life amid a global decline in birth rates, through the lens of a female HR executive interviewing job applicants. It stars Prapamonton Eiamchan, Paopetch Charoensook, Chanakan Rat­tana-­udom and Pimmada Chaisaksoen from Thai girl group PiXXiE. It is produced by GDH 559, the Thai studio behind 2025 Oscar-­shortlisted How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, along with co-­producers One Cool Connect and JAI Studios. Director Nawapol’s previous works include Fast & Feel Love, Happy Old Year and 36, winner of Busan’s New Currents award in 2012.
Contact: GDH 559

The Ivy (Ecu-Mex-Fr-Sp)

Dir. Ana Cristina Barragan
After Octopus Skin premiered at San Sebastian in 2022, rising Ecuadorian filmmaker Barragan returns with the story of an ailing young woman who reconnects with her estranged son, who has lived in an orphanage since she abandoned him after giving birth at the age of 13. Simone Bucio and Francis Eddu Llumiquinga star in the feature from Boton Films. The Ivy (aka Hiedra) went through Rotterdam’s CineMart co-production market in 2021. Barragan’s debut feature Alba was Ecuador’s Oscar submission in 2017.
Contact: Bendita Film Sales

The Kidnapping Of Arabella (It)

Dir. Carolina Cavalli
Cavalli’s debut Amanda, which screened in Venice’s now-retired Horizons Extra section in 2022, was a quirky female-­friendship comedy that scored several distribution deals — including a Criterion Channel berth in the US. In her follow-up — which features Chris Pine in an Italian-­speaking role — Benedetta Porcaroli again plays a twenty­something misfit, whose life is changed by a meeting with a seven-­year-old. It’s co-produced by Elsinore, Fremantle offshoot The Apartment and PiperFilm, which co-handles international rights.
Contact: Charades; Catia Rossi, PiperFilm 

Late Fame (US)

Dir. Kent Jones
Jones made a splash in 2015 with his feature documentary Hitchcock/­Truffaut. He now presents an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s posthumously published novella, scripted by Samy Burch (Oscar-nominated for May December). Willem Dafoe stars as a long-overlooked poet whose work is rediscovered by creatives, and Greta Lee co-stars. This is Jones’ second scripted drama as director, following 2018’s Diane. Producers include Pamela Koffler and Mason Plotts at indie stalwart Killer Films.
Contact: WME Independent; UTA Independent Film Group; Cinetic Media; mk2 Films (international)

Lost Land (Japan-Fr-Malay-Ger)

Dir. Akio Fujimoto
This drama follows two young siblings, played by non-professional actors, who leave a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh on a perilous journey to reunite with a relative in Malaysia. Fujimoto, whose work blends fiction and documentary, previously made Along The Sea (2020 San Sebastian). Producers are Kazutaka Watanabe of Japan’s E.x.N, Shogo Yasukawa, Angèle de Lorme of France’s Panorama Films, Elise Shick of Malaysia’s Cinemata and Christian Jilka of Germany’s Scarlet Visions alongside Rohingyan banner Elom Initiatives. DoP Yoshio Kitagawa shot Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist.
Contact: Rediance

Milk Teeth (Rom-Fr-Den-Gr-Bul)

Dir. Mihai Mincan
Set in the final days of Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania, Milk Teeth follows a 10-year-old girl who becomes the last witness to her sister’s disappearance. Development pedigree includes Tallinn’s Baltic Event Co-Production Market, APostLab mentorship programme and 2023’s TorinoFilmLab. Backers include the national film centres of Romania, France, Bulgaria, Denmark and Greece. Mincan returns to Horizons, where his debut fiction feature To The North launched in 2022. Radu Stancu and Ioana Lascar produce for deFilm.
Contact: Sebastien Chesneau, Cercamon  

Mother (Belg-N Mac-Swe-Den)

Dir. Teona Strugar Mitevska
Horizons opens with a depiction of seven pivotal days in the life of Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, the Albanian Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity institute and became known as Mother Teresa. With Noomi Rapace in the lead role, it is based on Teresa And I, a four-part 2013 series by Macedonian filmmaker Mitevska and Labina Mitevska, her sister and producing partner. Teona’s eighth feature is her third consecutive Venice launch, after 2022’s The Happiest Man In The World and 21 Days Until The End Of The World the following year.
Contact: Grégoire Melin, Kinology

On The Road (Mex)

Dir. David Pablos
Backed by Mexico’s Eficine tax incentive, On The Road (aka En El Camino) stars newcomers Victor Prieto Simental and Osvaldo Sanchez in a road movie about a rebellious drifter who gets close to a long-haul truck driver and puts them at risk when his past resurfaces. Pablos’s The Chosen Ones earned a Goya nomination for best Ibero-­American film. Producers are Inna Payan’s Animal de Luz in co-production with Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal’s La Corriente del Golfo, and The Maestros Cine, EFD Studios, Terminal Films and Producciones Año Bisiesto.
Contact: m-appeal  

One Year Of School (It-Fr)

Dir. Laura Samani
Set and shot in her Italian hometown of Trieste, Samani’s follow-up to her debut Small Body is a coming-­of-age story about the arrival of a Swedish 18-year-old female student at a previously all-male technical high school. Starring a cast of newcomers in the main teenage roles, it’s based on a short story set in 1909 by writer Giani Stuparich, which Samani, co-­scripting with Elisa Dondi, has updated to 2007. Lucky Red will release in Italy.
Contact: Fulvio Firrito, Rai Cinema International Distribution

Pin De Fartie (Arg)

Dir. Alejo Moguillansky
The Argentinian editor of Laura Citarella’s 2022 Venice Horizons entry Trenque Laquen has also directed shorts and features, including 2022 Berlinale selection The Middle Ages. His latest, which stars Santiago Gobernori and Laura Paredes, appears to be a play on the words ‘fin de partie’, meaning end of the game. Moguillansky’s Buenos Aires-based El Pampero Cine produces and handles world sales.
Contact: El Pampero Cine  

Rose Of Nevada (UK)

Dir. Mark Jenkin
Jenkin makes his Venice debut after outstanding British film Bafta winner Bait premiered at Berlin in 2019, and Enys Men at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2022. George MacKay and Callum Turner lead the cast of this time-travel mystery set in a Cornish fishing village, where a boat appears in the old harbour after being lost at sea for 30 years. Denzil Monk of Bosena produces, with financing from BFI, Film4 and Head Gear. Rose Of Nevada then heads to TIFF’s Special Presentations.
Contact: Protagonist Pictures

The Site (Fr-Lux)

Dir. Akihiro Hata
This debut from Japan-born La Fémis graduate Hata is about a man working the night shift at a building site for a futuristic property development — and who suspects foul play among his superiors when workers start to disappear. The Site (aka Grand Ciel) stars Damien Bonnard alongside Samir Guesmi, Mouna Soualem and a rising international European cast. Hata has directed several documentaries, and his short films have premiered at Clermont-­Ferrand festival. Producers are France’s Good Fortune Films and Luxembourg’s Les Films Fauves.
Contact: Gregory Chambet, WTFilms 

Songs Of Forgotten Trees (India)

Dir. Anuparna Roy
Set in Mumbai, this drama follows a migrant and aspiring actress with a sugar daddy, who sublets their apartment to a fellow migrant working a corporate job. Seemingly from different worlds, they begin to form a connection. Marking the feature directing debut of Roy, it received the backing of Indian auteur Anurag Kashyap, a former Venice jury member whose That Girl In Yellow Boots screened on the Lido in 2010. Naaz Shaikh and Sumi Baghel star, and producers are Bibhanshu Rai, Romil Modi and Ranjan Singh of Flip Films, with co-production from Navin Shetty and Roy.
Contact: Ranjan Singh, Flip Films  

The Souffleur (Austria-Arg)

Dir. Gaston Solnicki
Argentinian filmmaker Solnicki returns to Horizons with an English-­language dark comedy, nine years after Bluebeard, and following a 2018 out-of-competition slot for his Introduction To The Dark. His latest stars Willem Dafoe as a hotelier at Vienna’s InterContinental Hotel who descends into paranoia when he learns the place is to be sold to an Argentine developer. Producers include Vienna-based Little Magnet Films, KGP Filmproduktion, Primo Films and Argentina’s Filmy Wiktora.
Contact: Austin Kennedy, Magnify

Strange River (Sp-Ger)

Dir Jaume Claret Muxart
Described by Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera as “an ambitious first film”, Strange River is a queer coming-of age road movie by Catalan director Claret Muxart. It follows a teenage boy on holiday, travelling by bike along the Danube in Germany with his family. En route, he has an unexpected encounter with an older boy which changes the course of the journey. The film is produced by Xavi Font of ZuZú Cinema, whose credits include Oliver Laxe’s recent Cannes Competition entry Sirât, and Andrea Vazquez of Miramemira.
Contact: Films Boutique

Venice profiles by Ben Dalton, Tim Dams, Charles Gant, Nadiya Jackson, Jeremy Kay, Rebecca Leffler, Lee Marshall, Tara Nimmoneser, Orlando Parfitt, Jonathan Romney, Michael Rosser, Matt Schley, Mona Tabbara, Silvia Wong

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