by Stefania Fumo
VENICE, Italy, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian actress and director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi presented her sixth directorial effort, The Summer House, out of competition at the Venice film Festival on Wednesday.
An intimate and personal story played by an ensemble cast of award-winning French and Italian actors, the movie tells the story of a woman on holiday on the French Riviera, where she grapples with a break-up and the writing of her next film amidst the intersecting fears, desires, and power relations of her family, friends and house staff.
The trademark of Bruni Tedeschi as both an actress and a director is her light, tender, intelligent and complex touch in her portrayal of relationships.
"In this movie I found a musical, agreeable, new and musical form of expression," said Bruni Tedeschi.
The movie is Bruni Tedeschi's third feature in a semi-autobiographical trilogy that includes It's Easier for a Camel... (2003), about the flight to France of her wealthy family after it was targeted by leftwing terrorists, and Actresses (2007), in which she examines the conflict between being an artist and the desire for motherhood.
Bruni Tedeschi, who turns 54 in November, has 89 acting credits and dozens of awards her belt, and knows how to make actors feel both challenged and at ease.
"Working with (Bruni Tedeschi) means being free and protected at the same time," said Italy's award-winning Valeria Golino, who was in the cast along with French actor Pierre Arditi, Riccardo Scamarcio from Italy, and celebrated American documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
"I entrust myself to her, and she can ask me to do anything," Golino continued. "I can be at my worst with her, without feeling ashamed."
Golino was echoed by Scamarcio, who explained that he was so afraid to be in Bruni Tedeschi's movie that he failed twice to show up for the audition.
"I am completely disarmed with her -- knowing this about myself, I tried as hard as I could to avoid making this movie," he said.
"I hadn't read the script, so I didn't know that this is exactly what my character does -- he runs away. By not going to the audition, I got the part."
The Venice Film Festival, now in its 75th edition, will end on Sept. 8.
