HanWay Films has boarded worldwide sales of Joie de Vivre, Luca Guadagnino's seven-hour documentary on Bernardo Bertolucci, ahead of its Venice premiere this week. The film screens in two parts in the Venice Open section's Films on Films program on September 8 and 9.
The documentary examines Bertolucci's filmography across decades. The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Sheltering Sky, and The Last Emperor are among the films under the lens. Venice festival director Alberto Barbera described the experience plainly: "I assure you that you remain glued to the screen for seven hours," adding that the film treats Bertolucci's work "as a touchstone for interpreting and understanding what cinema was, what modern cinema is."
According to Variety, the film features voices from a wide range of figures: directors Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón, and James Gray appear alongside actors Debra Winger and Margot Robbie. Critics Mark Cousins and Armond White are also among those interviewed.
This marks Guadagnino's second sustained engagement with Bertolucci. In 2013, he produced an essay film drawn from 50 years of filmed interviews with the director. Bertolucci died in 2018. The new work is substantially larger in scope. Guadagnino will receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award at Venice before the first screening on September 8.
No theatrical release date has been announced.