Venice Days 2017: 14th Edition Program Unveiled with Samira Makhmalbaf as Jury President

The 14th edition of Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori), an independent section of the Venice Film Festival, was presented in Rome by General Delegate Giorgio Gosetti. Running from August 30 to September 9 at Villa degli Autori on Venice Lido, the program features 12 competition films, 2 Women's Tales shorts, 6 special events, and 3 special screenings. Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf, daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf and two-time Cannes Jury Prize winner for 'Blackboards' (2000) and 'At Five in the Afternoon' (2003), serves as jury president. Notable films include a restored 1968 documentary by Ermanno Olmi on adolescent suicide, the HBO biopic 'Agnelli' directed by Nick Hooker, and Giovanni Donfrancesco's 'Il risoluto' about child soldiers after fascism. Returning directors include Pengfei (China), Faouzi Bensaïdi (Morocco), Vincenzo Marra, Matteo Botrugno, and Daniele Coluccini (Italy); new works come from Kim Nguyen (Canada), Shirin Neshat (Iran), and Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Thailand). Venice Days was founded in 2004 by Italian film associations Anac and 100autori, modeled after Cannes' Directors' Fortnight.