 A rear view of the lions guarding the entrance of the Palazzo del cinema that were designed by Italian production designer Dante Ferretti. Photo (c): Fabrizio Maltese for european-films.net, all rights reserved. This morning the organisers of the Biennale di Venezia announced the Official Selection of the 2007 Venice Film Festival, which will kick off on August 29 with Joe Wright's period drama Atonement starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave. Like Cannes, which celebrated its 60th birthday this year, the Venice Film Festival celebrates a milestone: its 75th anniversary, though the festival is currently in its 64th edition since it was not held every year (notably during WWII). This year's selection of Golden Lion contenders is heavy on English-language fare and local films, including Oscar hopefuls Michael Clayton starring George Clooney and In the Valley of Elah from writer-director Paul Haggis, who made Oscar-winner Crash and wrote Eastwood's Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby. European directors presenting new work include Kenneth Branagh, Manoel de Oliveira, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, Ken Loach and Peter Greenaway, while homeland Italy counts on the young directors Vincenzo Marra, Paolo Franchi and Andrea Porporati.
64th Venice Film Festival - Opening Film (In Competition) - Atonement by Joe Wright (trailer), with Keira Knightley, Vanessa Redgrave and James McAvoy
64th Venice Film Festival - Official Selection - In Competition - L'ora di punta (lit. Rush Hour), by Vincenzo Marra, with Fanny Ardant, Michele Lastella and Giulia Bevilacqua.
- The Darjeeling Limited by Wes Anderson (trailer), with Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman
- Nessuna qualità agli eroi (lit. No Qualities for Heroes), by Paolo Franchi, with Bruno Todeschini, Elio Germano and Irène Jacob.
- Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy (trailer), with George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton
- Il dolce e l'amaro (lit. Sweet and Bitter), by Andrea Porporati, with Fabrizio Gifuni, Luigi Lo Cascio and Donatella Finocchiaro
- It's a Free World by Ken Loach, with Kierston Wareing, Juliet Ellis and Leslaw Zurek
- Les Amours d'Astrée et Céladon (lit. The Loves of Astrée and Céladon) by Eric Rohmer (pictures), with Stéphanie de Crayencour, Andy Gillet and Cécile Cassel
- Sleuth by Kenneth Branagh (trailer), with Jude Law and Michael Caine
- Nightwatching by Peter Greenaway (trailer), with Martin Freeman, Emily Holmes and Eva Birthistle
- Se Jie (Lust, Caution) by Ang Lee (trailer), with Tony Leung, Joan Chen and Wei Tang
- Heya fawda (This is Chaos) by Youssef Chahine, with Khaled Saleh and Mina Chalabi
- In the Valley of Elah by Paul Haggis (trailer), with Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon
- Sukiyaki Western Django by Miike Takashi, with Quentin Tarantino, Hideaki Ito and Kaori Momoi
- I'm Not There by Todd Haynes (clip), with Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger
- 12 by Nikita Mikhalkov, with Nikita Mikhalkov, Oleg Menshikov and Mikhail Yefremov
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Andrew Dominik (trailer), with Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Sam Shepard
- Redacted by Brian De Palma, with Kel O'Neill, Daniel Stewart Sherman and Ty Jones
- En la ciudad de Sylvia (lit. In Sylvia's City) by Jose Luis Guerin, with Pilar Lopez de Ayala and Xavier Lafitte
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Taiyang zhaochang shenqi (The Sun Also Rises) by Jiang Wen, with Jiang Wen, Joan Chen and Zhou Yun Bangbang wo aishen (Help Me Eros) by Lee Kang Sheng , with Lee Kang Sheng and Yin Shin -
La Graine et le mulet (Lit. The Grain and the Ass) by Abdellatif Kechiche, with Habib Boufares, Marzouk Bouraouïa and Sabrina Ouazani
64th Venice Film Festival - Official Selection - Out of Competition - Cassandra’s Dream by Woody Allen (pictures), with Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson
- [Rec] by Jaume Balagueró (teaser), with Vicente Gil, Manuela Velasco and Pablo Rosso
- La fille coupée en deux (lit. The Girl Cut in Two) by Claude Chabrol (official website), with Ludivine Sagnier, Benoît Magimel and François Berléand
- Kantoku - Banzai! (Glory to the Filmmaker!) by Takeshi Kitano (official website), with Takeshi Kitano, Toru Emori and Kayoko Kishimoto
- Cristóvão Colombo - O Enigma (Christopher Columbus - The Enigma) by Manoel de Oliveira, with Leonor Baldaque, Leonor Silva and Manoel de Oliveira
- Hotel Meina by Carlo Lizzani, with Benjamin Sadler, Ursula Buschhorn and Ivana Lotito
- The Nanny Diaries by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (trailer), with Scarlett Johansso, Laura Linney and Chris Evans
- Chun-nyun-hack (Beyond the Years) by M Kwon Taek, with Jae-hyun Jo and Jung-hae Oh
- Cleópatra by Julio Bressane, with Alessandra Negrini, Bruno Garcia and Miguel Falabella
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Far North by Asif Kapadia, with Michelle Yeoh, Sean Bean and Michelle Krusiec The Hunting Party by Richard Shepard (trailer), with Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Diane Kruger -
Nocturna by Adrià Garcia and Víctor Maldona (trailer)
64th Venice Film Festival - Official Selection - Closing Film (Out of Competition) - Tian tang kau (Blood Brothers) by Alexi Tan (official website), with Ye Liu, Chen Chang and Daniel Wu
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