Queer Lion Nominees 2016...

Cast, credits and synopses of the 10 movies in competition for Queer Lion Award 2016; and the calendar with the screening schedule during the Venice Film Festival

Hjartasteinn (Heartstone) by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson with Søren Malling, Gunnar Jónsson (Denmark, Iceland, 129’)
A remote fishing village in Iceland. Teenage boys Thor and Christian experience a turbulent summer as one tries to win the heart of a girl while the other discovers new feelings toward his best friend. When summer ends and the harsh nature of Iceland takes back its rights, it’s time to leave the playground and face the acrimony of adulthood.

L’estate addosso by Gabriele Muccino with Taylor Frey, Joseph Haro (Italy, 103’)
18 year-old Marco, in the summer of high-school final exams, unexpectedly ends up on a road trip to San Francisco with Mary, a classmate of his, nicknamed ‘the nun’. Mary’s company is, to Marco, a real catastrophe. When in California, the two of them will be guests of Matt and Paul, a young gay couple: the four will have to face problems and prejudices and will live an experience that will forever change their lives.

Le ultime cose by Irene Dionisio with Fabrizio Falco, Christina Rosamilia (Italy, France, Switzerland, 85’)
In Torino, a bittersweet crowd is bringing its own belongings to a pawn shop, waiting for a ransom or the final auction. Between the thousands of faces that tell the human inventory of the crisis, three stories intertwine unconsciously in the thin line of moral debt. Sandra, a young trans, in order to escape her past sells her fur coat. Her gaze will cross Stefano’s, a novice who just started working at the bank, and who drags her towards a tender obsession. Michele, a retired porter, asks for a loan to a family member, who will turn out to be fatally the wrong person to ask a favour from.

Pamilya ordinaryo (Ordinary People) by Eduardo Roy Jr. with Ronwaldo Martin, Hasmine Killip (Philippines, 107’)
A family portrait of Jane, sixteen, and her boyfriend, Aries, making a living out of stealing on the chaotic streets of Manila. Fate hits back at them when, one month after having become parents, their child is stolen by a transgender who wants to sell it to another couple. In an effort to get the baby back, the couple will be forced to take extreme measures.

Jours de France by Jérôme Reybaud with Pascal Cervo, Arthur Igual (France, 141’)
A man leaves everything behind to travel aimlessly through France, letting himself be guided only by the people and landscapes he encounters: four days and four nights of wandering, during which his lover tries to locate him via Grindr, a smartphone dating app.

Réparer les vivants by Katell Quillévéré with Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval (France, Belgium, 103′)
It all starts at daybreak, three young surfers on the raging seas. A few hours later, on the way home, an accident occurs. Now entirely hooked up to life-support in a hospital in Le Havre, Simon’s existence is little more than an illusion. Meanwhile, in Paris, a woman, mother of two children, music lover, who started a relationship with a charming and talented female pianist, awaits the organ transplant that will give her a new lease on life.

La región salvaje by Amat Escalante with Ruth Ramos, Simone Bucio (Mexico, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, 100’)
Young mother Alejandra is a working housewife, raising two boys with her husband Angel in a small city. Her brother Fabien works as a nurse in a local hospital. Their provincial lives are upset with the arrival of the mysterious Veronica. Sex and love can be fragile in certain regions where strong family values, hypocrisy, homophobia and male chauvinism exist. Veronica convinces them that in the nearby woods, inside an isolated cabin, dwells something not of this world that could be the answer to all of their problems.

Questi giorni by Giuseppe Piccioni with Margherita Buy, Filippo Timi (Italy, 120’)
Questi Giorni is the story of a group of college-age girls from the provinces, an age in which decisions about the future become more pressing, and can no longer be delayed. A provincial Italian town. Inside the old city walls, in late-night forays along the seafront, in the enchantment of a temporary incursion into nature, the four girls play out their daily rituals and nurture their expectations; their friendship has not sprung from overwhelming passion, shared interests or great ideals. They are bound not by affinity but by habit, by occasional enthusiasm, by guileless clashes, and feelings they cultivate in secret. Yet their bond is as unique and inimitable as the days they travel together to Belgrade, where they will find a mysterious friend and an unlikely job opportunity.

Boys in the Trees by Nicholas Verso with Toby Wallace, Gulliver McGrath (Australia, 112′)
Halloween 1997 – the last night of high school for Corey, Jango and their skater gang, The Gromits. Childhood is over and adult life beckons. But for Corey, his past has some unfinished business. When he encounters Jonah, a former childhood friend but now victimised by Jango’s cruel streak, Corey takes pity on him and agrees to walk him home for old time’s sake. What starts off as a normal walk through empty suburban streets descends into something darker and magical, as trip through their memories and ghosts of the past, and Corey is surprised to discover how much he still has in common with his abandoned friend. And even the most buried truths will find a way of coming to life. Best unproduced screenplay award at the 2011 New York Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Ang babaeng humayo (The Woman Who Left) by Lav Diaz with Charo Santos-Concio, John Lloyd Cruz (Philippines, 226’)
After spending the last 30 years in prison, Horacia is immediately released when someone else confessed to the crime. Still overwhelmed by her new freedom, she comes to the painful realization that her aristocratic former lover had set her up. As kidnappings targeting the wealthy begin to proliferate, Horacia sees the opportunity to plot her revenge.