La Biennale
With the Venice Film Festival a little over a week away, there are two new collateral awards joining the lineup of prizes alongside the likes of the FIPRESCI and the Label Europa Cinemas. The entries are the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award and the Fundación Casa Wabi – Mantarraya (Mexico) Award. Both will go to filmmakers at the fest, providing winners with residency opportunities.
The HFPA prize is designed for three filmmakers from the Horizons sidebar and will be given for Best Film and Best Director as well as a Special Jury Prize. The laureates will participate from January 2-23, 2019, in a three-week long residency program in Los Angeles. The program will include masterclasses, workshops, mentoring, screenings and education events in partnership with Film Independent. Separately, three other filmmakers will be selected for the same program by the Filmmaker Lab of the Toronto Film Festival.
The Fundación Casa Wabi – Mantarraya prize will be go to the director winner of the Award for a Debut Film of the 75th Venice Film Festival. This will offer a month-and-a-half residency at Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido. There, the winner will have the opportunity to develop a project in collaboration with the artists in residence and nearby communities. The projects are designed to encourage interaction, exchange and dialogue across other disciplines.
The Fundación Casa Wabi is a non-profit org promoting collaboration and social commitment through art. The Mantarraya Group production company supports new talent and has helped launch the careers of Amat Escalante and Carlos Reygadas (the latters Nuestro Tiempo is in competition in Venice this year).
Previously set non-competitive prizes include the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award which is going to Chinese master Zhang Yimou. The Raise The Red Lantern directors latest film, Shadow, is world premiering out of competition. He has previously won two Golden Lions in Venice, for The Story Of Qiu Ju in 1992 and for Not One Less in 1999.
Also previously noted, Vanessa Redgrave is to be honored with the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award. The fest recently added The Aspern Papers by Julien Landais in which Redgrave stars with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Joely Richardson as a special screening.
Venice runs August 29-September 8.
[contf] [contfnew] 
Deadline
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
