Always a star-studded event, the festival will also revisit ‘Diario di Guttuso’ a television work from 1982 featuring the beloved Italian artist that already showed the highly personal style of Oscar winning filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore.
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Robert Mitchum photographed by Bruce Weber
The Venice Diaries: Bruce Weber paints a daring portrait of Robert Mitchum in 'Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast'
As I sat down to meet legendary fashion photographer Bruce Weber I said "Mr. Weber, I can't say I grew up with your photographs because I'm older than I look, but I definitely grew into my sexuality thanks to your iconic images." It's true. Those NYC billboards in Times Square of underwear models for Calvin Klein, the Ralph Lauren "out of Africa" campaign, Kate Moss in the bathtub, the beach scenes, the catalogues I devoured before the advent of the internet, I grew into my skin thanks to Weber's images.
Today, Weber has helped me to rediscover the beauty and genius of classic American actor Robert Mitchum. 'Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast' screens at the Venice Film Festival in the Venice Classics section and is co-produced by Weber's wife Nan Bush. In the documentary, Mitchum is shown as never before, a singer, a lover and a poet, aided in part by cameos by Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Polly Bergen, Brenda Vaccaro and Liam Neeson, among many many more.
So why a film about Mitchum, why from Weber and why now?
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Bennett Miller conducts a masterclass during Qumra 2018
The Qumra Dairies: Wisdom from a Master with Bennett Miller
When Oscar-nominated American filmmaker Bennett Miller sat down to give his masterclass during this year's Qumra in Doha, he immediately apologized for his voice. "It doesn't hurt, it just sounds bad," he admitted, about the husky sound that appeared to be a really bad case of laryngitis. Maybe they could stop a bit early, said his moderator, who instead then actually proceeded to go overtime with the talk.
Living on the edge, this idea that the masterclass could be cut short by Miller's loss of voice altogether actually added an extra layer of urgency to everything that the talented, kind, thoughtful and wonderfully candid filmmaker had to say.
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Lav Diaz at the press conference for 'Season of the Devil' held during the 68th Berlinale
Photo courtesy of the Berlinale
The Berlinale Diaries: Eric Khoo's 'Ramen Teh', Lav Diaz is my hero and the 'Pig' that's conquering Berlinale
When I sat with the maestro Lav Diaz for our interview for his Competition film 'Season of the Devil', he pointed to the film critics, the journalists who write about cinema, as an integral part of the filmmaking process. And I agree wholeheartedly with the genius that is Diaz, a man who, in this age of everything fast and immediate, still makes films that lull us into watching them for four and a half hours! He teaches us how to watch his cinema, and I believe as film writers, we hold a responsibility to teach audiences to find those films.
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PHOTO BY NEILSON BARNARD/GETTY IMAGES FOR DIFF
Bushra on the DIFF red carpet
The Dubai Film Festival Diaries: Superstar Bushra, Costume Diva Alexandra Byrne and the Power of Great Women
We need more women film writers. Repeat after me. We need more women film writers and when they are published, those few random times, we need to support them.
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