Irene Grazioli

The annual film festival in Venice is, of course, an ideal place to make a film (how come no-one has thought of it before). Everything is there in Pupi Avati's Festival: the famous hotels Des Bain and Excelsior on the Lido, the shimmering sandy beach which captivated Visconti. The film was made last spring and exploits the presence of passing film stars such as Jack Nicholson. We see the hysterical press conferences, where journalists and experts ask intelligent questions-without listening to the answers.

In 'A Magic Mirror' a femme fatale, looking sexily at herself in the mirror, recalls a highly sensual love-affair.

In Pasquale Pozzessere's debut, a woman just out of prison falls in love with a man who saw steaing form a collection box in a church. Some critics saw a dry style next to Pasolini's as the director shows the two desperate individuals effort to build a sort of precarious family. In the end you could almost feel there's still a slender thread of hope for them to hang on

Greek Sea, World War II. An Italian ship leaves a handful of soldiers in a little island; their mission is to spot enemy ships and to hold the island in case of attack. The village of the island seems abandoned and there isn't a single enemy in sight, so the soldiers begin to relax a little. Things change when their ship is hit and destroyed by the enemy, and the soldiers find themselves abandoned there.

The story of a young Calabrian widow who initially reclusive, must come to terms with her loss and live her life.