68th Venice International Film Festival


The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was presented with the Glory to the Film-maker award on 4 September, prior to the premiere of his upcoming film Wilde Salomé. Marco Bellocchio was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in September. The festival opened with the American film The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney, and closed with Damsels in Distress by Whit Stillman.

Juries

The international juries of the 68th Venice International Film Festival were composed as follows:
Main competition
Horizons
Controcampo Italiano
Opera Prima

In Competition

The following films were selected to compete for the Golden Lion:

Out of competition

The following films were shown out of competition:

Horizons

The following films were selected for the Horizons section:

Controcampo Italiano

The following films, representing "new trends in Italian cinema", were screened in this section:
In competition
Out of competition
TitleDescriptionDirector
Io Sono. Storie di SchiavitùFeature documentaryBarbara Cupisti
Caldo grigio, caldo neroFeature documentaryMarco Dentici
Rudolf Jacobs, l'uomo che nacque morendoFeature docu-fictionLuigi M. Faccini
Andata e ritorno Medium-length documentaryDonatella Finocchiaro
Dai nostri inviati – La RAI racconta la Mostra del cinema 1968 – 1979 Medium-length documentary Giuseppe Gianotti, Enrico Salvatori, Davide Savelli
Pivano Blues. Sulla strada di NandaFeature documentaryTeresa Marchesi
Schuberth – L’atelier della dolce vitaMedium-length documentaryAntonello Sarno
Hollywood InvasionMedium-length documentaryMarco Spagnoli
Un foglio biancoFeature documentaryMaurizio Zaccaro

Italian avant-garde retrospective

The following films were shown as part of a retrospective section on Italian avant-garde films, titled Orizzonti 1961-1978, spanning the years 1961 to 1978.

Autonomous sections

Venice International Film Critics' Week

The following films were screened for this section:

Venice Days

The following films were screened as part of the Venice Days section The three nominees for the European Parliament's 2011 Lux Prize received screenings as part of this section.

Awards

Official selection

The following Official selection awards were conferred at the festival:
In Competition
Horizons
Controcampo Italiano
Special awards
The following official and collateral awards were conferred to films of the autonomous sections:
Venice International Film Critics' Week
Venice Days
The following collateral awards were conferred to films of the official selection: