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HanWay Films has boarded international sales on Luca Guadagnino’s sprawling seven-hour Bernardo Bertolucci documentary “Joie de Vivre,” which will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next week.
Venice will unveil
Guadagnino’s director’s cut in two parts, screening the first on Sept. 8 and the second on Sept. 9. Guadagnino will receive the festival’s Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award ahead of the first screening.
“Joie de Vivre” portrays Bertolucci, both as an artist and a man, drawing on extensive archival material and conversations with filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón and James Gray. The doc also features interviews with Margot Robbie and Debra Winger, alongside screenwriter Francesca Maneri, producer Jeremy Thomas and critics and cinephiles including Murielle Joudet, Armond White and Mark Cousins.
Bertolucci’s body of work is explored throughout “Joie de Vivre,” notably “1900,” “The Conformist,” “Last Tango in Paris,” “La Luna,” “The Sheltering Sky,” “The Last Emperor” and his final feature, “Me and You.” The film also tackles the more controversial elements of Bertolucci’s legacy, revisiting some of his most debated films and scenes through extended clips and a range of sometimes conflicting perspectives.
“Luca has completely freed himself of all documentary filmmaking conventions,” said HanWay Films CEO Gabrielle Stewart. “The result is a unique and daring exploration of cinema through the lens of Bertolucci. The journey Luca takes you on feels both epic and deeply personal.”
Stewart added that the film offers “an opportunity to dive into the variety of views and thoughts around some of Bertolucci’s most controversial and infamous scenes,” describing Guadagnino in the documentary as “a hungry student of Cinema.”
The title “Joie de Vivre” itself comes from an expression Bertolucci frequently used to evoke both the lightness and beauty of life and the pleasure of making movies.
Guadagnino previously said Bertolucci had long been a major influence in his work. In 2013, he and editor Walter Fasano made “Bertolucci on Bertolucci,” a documentary assembled around the late Italian filmmaker discussing his life and work.
“Joie de Vivre” is produced by MeMo Films, the company co-founded by Gabriele Moratti and Francesco Melzi d’Eril, which previously collaborated with Guadagnino on “Call Me by Your Name” and “Suspiria.”
