In Venice, one of the most anticipated titles to world premiere during the festival is Luca Guadagnino's cannibal love story Bones and All, starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. The film is about first love, between Maren (Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter. They meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap doors of Ronald Reagan’s America -- yet despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.
It is exciting to see the Italian filmmaker, whose mother was born in Algeria, now slated to receive the 'A Tribute to... Award' at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival, where his latest film will also be screened.
Guadagnino's films have found their own unique place in contemporary cinema: They delight audiences and critics alike, and the director, born in Palermo in 1971, has developed a cinematic language that is unmistakably his own. He has been on all cinema lovers' radars since the global success of Call Me By Your Name, which Guadagnino presented in person at the ZFF in 2017.
"Luca Guadagnino is a filmmaker who tells incredibly powerful visual stories and surprises time after time. With his distinctive style, the European director has also managed to make a name for himself abroad and is at the peak of his creative powers," said Christian Jungen, Artistic Director of the ZFF. "Guadagnino is also not afraid to reinterpret the works of great directors," continued Jungen.
In fact, in 2015, Guadagnino did a remake of the 1968 movie La Piscine and titled it after the David Hockney painting A Bigger Splash. Where director Jacques Deray created a cult movie starring Romy Schneider and Alain Delon, Guadagnino succeeded with his remake starring Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes. His film had almost nothing in common with the original yet managed to weave sociopolitical traits into the plot, adding in what was then the emerging migrant crisis on the island of Lampedusa, in Sicily.
In 2018, Guadagnino dived into the horrifying spheres of an abominable dance company with his remake of the Dario Argento classic Suspiria, once again with Tilda Swinton taking part. The actress is a common thread that runs through the filmmaker's work and he even created a 35-minute short film from his first encounter with Swinton, which happened to be an interview with her at the Hotel Majestic in Cannes in 2002.
Guadagnino's breakthrough came in 2005 with Melissa P, the film adaptation of the novel "With Closed Eyes" by Melissa Panarello. He followed it with I Am Love (Io sono l'amore) teaming once again with Tilda Swinton and the film received a Golden Globe nomination. Call Me By Your Name received four Oscar nominations, with beloved filmmaker and writer James Ivory winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Luca Guadagnino will receive the 'A Tribute to... Award' at ZFF on September 30th, when he will present his latest Bones and All as a Gala Premiere. He will also hold a public ZFF Masters talk on October 1st. “Receiving this award is a great honor. The Zurich Film Festival has held a special place for me since presenting Call Me By Your Name there in 2017. I’m so happy to return to the festival with Bones and All" stated Guadagnino.
The Zurich Film Festival presents the 'A Tribute to... Award" to auteur filmmakers for their contribution to film history. Former recipients include Paolo Sorrentino, Wim Wenders, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Michael Haneke, Oliver Stone and Maïwenn.
Portrait of Luca Guadagnino by © Anoush Abrar for Zurich Film Festival, used with permission.
