Turin to be bookended by Moneyball, Albert Nobbs

The 29th Turin Film Festival, under the artistic direction of Gianni Amelio, will open with Brad Pitt starring Moneyball by Bennett Miller and will close with Albert Nobbs [pictured], by Rodrigo Garcia.

The festival, which runs Nov 25-Dec 3 focuses on director’s first, second or third works for their main competitive section, which this year is composed of an eclectic mix of films with nationalities spanning from Iceland to South Korea, Iran to Indonesia and Russia to the United Arab Emirates in addition to a copious presence of US and European works.

European titles include 17 Filles by Frances Delphine and Muriel Coulin, in which the film’s protagonist convinces her two friends to become pregnant at the same time. Attack The Block, from Tintin writer Joe Cornish examines what would happen if aliens landed in a working class district of London. Also from the UK,Ghosted by Craig Viveiros looks at the reality of being behind bars, while Italy’s Carlo Virzi competes with I Piu Grandi Di Tutti, about the members of a now-disbanded rock group, and where destiny has placed them. Also from Italy, Mateo Zoni’s debut, Ulidi Piccola Mia, tells the story of a group of girls that live in a half way house.

From Germany, Andreas Kannengiesser’s Way Home is the story of a woman who escapes the burden of caring for her ill husband, leaving her son to pick up the responsibilities. Iceland’s Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson competes with Either Way, an 1980s set story about two street maintenance workers who pass their time talking about girls, while Heart’s Boomerang, from Russia’s Nikolay Khomeriki focuses on a young man whose discovery that he is afflicted with a heart defect in which his heart could stop beating from one moment to the next, radically alters his perception of life.

From North America, Win Win, Thomas McCarthy’s dark comedy featuring Paul Giamatti as a mediocre lawyer who tries to resolve his economic problems taking advantage of an elderly client with Alzheimer is in competition as is Jonathan Levine’s Seth Rogen starring 50/50 – another dark comedy about a young man who discovers he has cancer, but 50 percent chance to defeat it.

Canada competes with Sebastien Pilote’s Le Vendeur, about the ‘best car salesman’ in Quebec as the economic crisis threatens to engulf his business, while wrapping up the US contingent Matthew Petock’s A Little Closer focuses on a single mom seeking her soul mate.

Reaching out to some far-flung territories, Turin’s offer this year includes Three And A Half, an Iranian film from Naghi Nemati focusing on three Tehran women who try to cross the boarder illegally. OK, Enough, Goodbye is the title of the single UAE entry by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia about a forty something that lives at home and works in the family pastry shop.

From Indonesia, Welsh-born Gareth Huw Evans brings a martial arts film fueled by a police vs drug lord story entitled The Raid. South Korea’s Park Su-min brings AConfessionabout an ex cop who is disturbed by memories of torture he inflicted in his profession.

Turin also offers several non-competitive sections including a Moveable Feast that debuts popular titles in Italy including Moneyball, The Descendants by Alexander Payne and Woody Allen’sMidnight in Paris alongside other predominantly European and US titles.

Confidential Report is a section dedicated to a single author, in this case to Japan’s Sion Sono with a selection of his work.

Waves is a section dedicated to new formats in cinematography with films of varied lengths and using a mix of technologies. The section will feature a tribute to French director Eugene Green.

Turin continues with its Itlaian.doc section dedicated to 10 documentaries from the national production and Italiana.Corti, reserved for new short works.

Turin will award one prize to the best international documentary film across sections and which comes with a Euros 7,000 prize.

As previously announced, Turin will have a retrospective of American filmmaker Robert Altman, covering his 50 year career and for which his wife Kathryn and son Stephen Altman will attend.

The international jury this edition is led by US director Jerry Schatzberg. Other jury members include US producer Michael Fitzgerald, Italian actress Valeria Golino, Indian director Shekhar Kapur and Philippine director Brillante Mendoza.

The fourth edition of the TorinoFilmLab will be held Nov 27-28. There are 11 projects competiting in this year’s Framework programme, up for various production awards totaling $68,000-$270,000 (Euro 50,000-Euro 200,000).

Projects this year include: Alvaro Brechner’s Mr. Kaplan (Uruguay/Spain); Zena El Khalil and Gigi Roccati’s Beriut, I Love You (Lebanon/Italy); Alex Koenzen’s Deadweight (Germany), Pablo Lamar’s The Last Stand (Paraguay); Anca Lazarescu’s Romanian Spring (Germany/Romania); Julien Lilti and Simon Rouby’s Adama (France); Benjamin Naishtat’s History Of Fear (Argentina/France); Adina Pintilie’s Touch Me Not (Romania); Oscar Ruiz Navia’s Los Hongos (Columbia); Peng Fei Song’s Underground Fragrance (China); and Virgil Vernier’s Mercuriales (France).