Peter Greeenaway directs Nightwatching.
Arifa Akbar in The [London] Independent:
"This time the British are not just coming, they may even have arrived. A quarter of a decade after screenwriter Colin Welland issued his warning as he collected his 1982 Oscar for Chariots of Fire, there is all the evidence to suggest that a golden age of British film-making has arrived.
"With four homegrown movies in the running for the Venice Film Festival's coveted Golden Lion award, announced next Sunday, the festival's director, Marco Mueller, said it was one of the finest epochs for British films."
Things change rather rapidly nowadays. Polar ice caps are disappearing at a much faster rate than previously thought, while whole national film industries go from moribund to alive and kicking in a matter of a few months. Just think that last May Stephen Frears was sounding the death bells for British cinema, which was all but excluded from the Palme d'Or competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
But then enters Marco Mueller, who has acted as president of the Venice festival for the past four years, and who long ago decided that for his festival to compete with Cannes it had to become more "international," i.e., it had to give emphasis to English-language films that would appeal to the U.S. market.
"The fact that many films from Venice go on to be nominated for Oscars can't be a coincidence," Mueller told The Independent. "And it means the Oscars are now accepting films which are original and innovative, such as Frears' The Queen."
Actually, The Queen is neither original nor innovative — and that is exactly why it was recognized by the Academy — but festival presidents must be good at this sort of b.s. Some may even believe their own nonsense.
In any case, as per The Independent article, films launched in Venice over the past three years have gone on to receive 51 Oscar nominations. That's a lot of Academy-friendly originality and innovativeness.
Venice Film Festival Awards – 2007
64th Venice Film Festival: Competition Line-Up
64th Venice Film Festival: Out of Competition Line-Up
Venice Film Festival 2007 – Horizons Sidebar
LUST, CAUTION Controversy at Venice Film Festival 2007
Venice Film Festival 2007 – The British Have Arrived
Woody Allen's CASSANDRA'S DREAM at the Venice Film Festival 2007
I'M NOT THERE: Bob Dylan Not at the Venice Film Festival 2007
THE GRAIN OF LIFE: Great Cinema at Venice 2007
Top Contenders for the Venice Film Festival 2007 Awards
Queer Lion for Gay-Themed Films at the Venice Film Festival
A Golden Lion for Peter Greenaway?
Sarajevo Film Festival Awards – 2007
Hey Guys,
My name is Silvia, I wanted you all to be aware of the Global Peace Festival (since we're already talking about Film Festivals on this site, this is a great opportunity to get the word out there). The Global Peace Film Festival is worth of everyone's attention. It is based in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios and exposes the effort to bring global peace on Earth. The films, documentaries, and discussions are all peace issues related. There will be many opportunities for you to check them out, since they will be showing in this fall, for example, the Hijos de la Guerra, Dreams of Dust, and many others. They tell powerful and moving stories about people from all over the world that will move you. Some of the issues presented include: war, poverty, family crisis, and other hardships. Check out everything on http://www.peacefilmfest.org.
Thank you for your attention!