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Feature Film Competition Introduction
The movies



Introduction

Getting lost, leaving home, looking for a flat, finding each other.
Here they are, the films you are going to see at Milano Film Festival. 7 debut works and 4 second works.
By dedicating a competition entirely to young filmmakers, who have just shot their debut film, we intend to open the doors to talent and to ideas out of the logics of market.
It is an exploration within the films' world, which will turn into the discovery of the world itself. A long thin thread will lead us through diverse films, at times even opposed to each other yet always sharing some common features.
In Tobira no muko a British filmmaker goes to Tokyo to tell the story of the daily drama of people affected by the Hikikomori syndrome. London becomes the destination of the characters (and the filmmaker) of Unmade beds, an easy-going story, whose young protagonists are looking for reference points.
Research is always at the centre of these stories. Their protagonists are solitary characters, who live at the edge of society, due to choice or necessity, and who, at some point, have to search for something. This is the case of Li Tong, the little protagonist of the homonym low-budget film, who gets lost in the chaos of Beijing and does not find anyone to drive her home. The musician of Here and There crosses the ocean to escape poverty, though he still has to face the most frightful and unforeseen element: love. With a light touch, the funny Futoko tells the story of a lonely heart who becomes a family man.
In his documentary The Son of Hamlet, filmmaker Francesco Gatti, recently passed away, makes a passionate analysis of a controversial painter, split between the love for his model, and the crude vanishment of fame's illusion, creating a film that one can only watch with a sincere melancholy. And then, the distressing examination of madness in Crack Willow, which follows the same line of the most extreme character (and film) of the selection: Menteur, that will lead to discussion for its strong attack to lie as a social regulator.
At times, in this process of research, people get to know and love each other. This happens in Mary and Max, which not only is the first feature of a filmmaker who won an Academy Award for the best short film, but also is the first animation film in competition in the Festival's history. Although an animated story, it could not help crossing the boundaries, establishing a connection between Sydney and New York. The same occurs in the enchanted Gallero, where in the peculiar world of cock's fightings, we can witness the blooming of an overwhelming love between two characters of very different age.
People who fly, who travel, who adventure across the globe. Films that cover all kinds of genre and that are literally characterized by life.
In Turistas, 30-year-old Carla wanders without a destination around the Chilean forest and gets surprised and fascinated by what she finds. Even those who have seen these films remain fascinated by the continuous, moving strength that filmmaking wants to keep in life. We truly hope to surprise you as well, also by helping you losing yourselves in the forest.

Vincenzo Rossini

The movies

	Crack Willow by Martin Radich, Uk, 2008, 89' Disturbing docufiction that deals with misery and nausea, and at the end can give unexpected emotions.
	Il figlio di Amleto / The son of Hamlet by Francesco Gatti, Italia, 2009, 73' A documentary on the nemesis of talent and on an unresolved enigma: the relationship between a disciple and his teacher.
	Futoko / The Dark Harbour by Naito Takatsugu, Giappone, 2008, 101' The funny story of a lonely fisherman: Manzo. Single due to bad luck, not because of choice, he finds a family hidden in his wardrobe.
	Gallero / Gamecock Breeder by Sergio Martín Mazza, Argentina, 2008, 87' The fight for love overcomes the gamecocks when Max meets the old Julia. In the sun, in the quietness.
	Li Tong by Nian Liu, Cina, 2009, 75' One little girl's journey across the sprawling city of Beijing, through a series of encounters with the colorful characters that call it home.
	Mary&Max by Adam Elliot, Australia, 2008, 92' A colourful Australian little girl and a black-and-white Jew from New York become by chance surreal pen friends.
	Menteur / Liar by Tom Geens, Belgio, 2008, 78' A real liar lies to everyone and should not be trusted. Unless who tells the truth is a liar himself.
	Tamo i ovde / Here and there by Darko Lungulov, Serbia, 2009, 90' It is the impossible mission of a saxophonist who crosses the ocean to marry an unknown girl and take her to New York.
	Tobira No Muko / Left Handed by Laurence Thrush, Giappone, 2008, 110' It is the experience of the Hikikomori syndrome, in a suggestive black-and-white first work by an English filmmaker, who moved to Tokyo.
	Turistas / Tourists by Alicia Scherson, Cile, 2009, 100' Carla is a airhead. She gets lost in the Chilean forest, led by a Norwegian camping man. Entomology applied to men.
	Unmade Beds by Alexis Dos Santos, Uk, 2008, 93' Two twenty-year-old foreigners in London. Alcoholic nights, indie rock and amour a trois. A carefree and delicate film.