The Queer Lion ,the Venice Film Festival’s prize for “Best film with a homosexual and queer culture theme”, is now in its seventh year. There are nine films on the program including two made in Italy: Piccola Patria (Little Homeland) by Alessandro Rossetto and Via Castellana Bandiera by Emma Dante and it will be awarded on 7 September.
The Queer Lion is given out each year to a film screening in an official section – in or out of competition, in the Venice Days, Critics’ Week or Horizons sections -– that “accurately portrays lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters.”
Tom at the Farm — a drama about a man (played by Dolan himself) who meets the family of his recently deceased lover, unaware he was gay – and Via Castellana Bandiera – about a lesbian couple in Sicily for a friend’s wedding – are the only two films vying for the award from Venice’s competition lineup.
Other films selected to compete for the prize include: coming-of-age comedy Gerontophilia by Canada’s Bruce La Bruce; Johanna Jackie Baier’s drama Julia; Kill Your Darlings, a romantic drama involving Beat Generation poets from John Krokidas; and Tres Bodas de Más (Three Many Weddings), a comedy from Javier Ruiz Caldera, all from Venice Days (Tres Bodas de Más is the section’s closing film); Piccola Patria, a drama from Alessandro Rossetto and teenage prostitution drama Eastern Boys from Robin Campillo, both in the Horizons section; and L’armée du salut (Salvation Army) from Abdellah Taïa, a rare gay-themed Arab film, which will screen in Critics’ Week.
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