Venice FF to include Italy's Dionisio

(ANSA) - Rome, July 25 - Italian director Irene Dionisio's film 'Le Ultime Cose' (The Last Things) will be among the feature films in competition at the International Film Critics' Week (SIC) running August 31 to September 10.
    The first foray into fiction by 29-year-old documentary maker Dionisio is set in Turin as its inhabitants struggle with the economic crisis, alternating between hope and desperation. Seven first-time directors' full-length films will be in the running for the top prize in the section as part of the 73rd edition of the Venice Film Festival. They include 'Drum', shot secretly in Teheran by 30-year-old Iranian director Keywan Karimi, who was sentenced to a year in prison, 223 lashes and a 20-million-rial fine for his documentary 'Writing on the City'. Karimi will not be in Venice, since his passport is being held by Iranian authorities. Also in the running will be 'The Last of Us' by Tunisian director Ala Eddine Slim, 'Los Nadie' (The Nobodies) by Colombian Juan Sebastián Mesa, 'Jours de France' (Days of France) by Jérome Reybaud and 'Prank' by Canadian Vincent Biron.
    Pepe Smith, a 68-year-old Filipino rock star, is the leading character in 'Singing in Graveyards', a film by independent Malaysian director Bradley Liew.
    A new element this year will be sic@sic, a section for Italian short films organized with Istituto Luce.