Aude Léa Rapin’s Planet B (Planète B) will open the 39th edition of Venice Critics’ Week (Settimana Internazionale della Critica), the independent and parallel section of the Venice International Film Festival, taking place August 28 to September 7, 2024. Set in the future, the French film Planet B follows an activist pursued by the state who vanishes without a trace, and when she awakens, she finds herself trapped in an entirely unfamiliar world: Planet B.

The closing film is also a French film, Little Jaffna by Lawrence Valin, which gets its name from the district of ‘Little Jaffna’ in Paris, considered the heart of a vibrant Tamil community, where a young police officer, is assigned to infiltrate a criminal group known for extortion and money laundering for the benefit of separatist rebels in Sri-Lanka.

Films in competition include, Anywhere Anytime by Milad Tangshir; Don’t Cry, Butterfly by Dương Diệu Linh; Homegrown by Michael Premo; No Sleep Till by Alexandra Simpson; Paul & Paulette Take A Bath by Jethro Massey; Peacock by Bernhard Wenger; and Perfumed With Mint by Muhammed Hamdy.

In competition

Anywhere Anytime
by Milad Tangshir (Italy)

Issa is a young illegal immigrant living in Turin, Italy, trying to survive as best as he can. Fired by his previous employer, he begins working as a food-delivery rider, thanks to his friend. However, this newly gained stability collapses when, during a drop-off, the bicycle he has just spent all his money on is stolen. Issa immediately embarks on a desperate odyssey through the streets of the city to find his bike.

Don’t Cry, Butterfly (Mưa trên cánh bướm)
by Dương Diệu Linh (Vietnam, Singapore, The Philippines, Indonesia)

Tam, a diligent wedding venue staffer, discovers her husband’s affair on live TV. Rather than confronting him, she enlists a powerful spell master to win back his love. Tam’s daughter, Ha, pours her frustration into vivid fantasies of a brighter future abroad. Meanwhile, a mysterious House Spirit, visible only to the women, lurks beneath their cracked, leaky ceiling.

Homegrown
by Michael Premo (United States)

Homegrown is an unflinching chronicle of Americans at war with each other. Three right-wing activists—a newly politicised father-to-be in New Jersey, an Air Force veteran organising conservatives in New York City, and a charismatic activist from Texas—crisscross the country in the summer of 2020, campaigning for Donald Trump and building a movement they hope will outlast him. When they become convinced that the election is stolen, they take their fight to the streets. The result is a chilling portrait of a growing movement pushing American democracy to the brink.

No Sleep Till
by Alexandra Simpson (United States, Switzerland)

In a coastal Florida town threatened by an impending hurricane, locals prepare for a mandatory evacuation. As the last tourists depart and residents board-up their homes, a few wanderers choose to remain. Among them, two-long time friends drive around in endless circles, a local teenager bikes through the darkening night, and an obsessive storm chaser arrives for what could be the biggest chase of his life. As if ghosts haunting their own town, they venture into the night and face the threat of impending doom.

Paul & Paulette Take A Bath
by Jethro Massey (United Kingdom)

A twisted romantic comedy about a young American photographer and a French girl with a taste for the macabre. Paul & Paulette’s chance encounter on a Parisian boulevard sparks an unusual friendship that grows around a dark game; reenacting scenes of notorious crimes from bygone eras at the sites they occurred. For Paul, the game is a way of getting closer to Paulette. For Paulette, it’s a way of escaping a painful break-up with her girlfriend, and of processing her own inherited trauma. As their morbid road trip approaches the more recent past it becomes more uncomfortable, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, but finding a surprising joy in the darker corners of humanity.

Peacock
by Bernhard Wenger (Austria, Germany)

Matthias is a master of his profession.
Do you need a ‘cultured boyfriend’ to impress your friends?
A ‘perfect son’ to influence your business partners’ opinion of you?
Or maybe just a sparring partner to rehearse an argument?
Whatever it is, just rent Matthias! While he excels at pretending to be someone else every day, just being himself is the real challenge.

Perfumed With Mint (Moattar binanaa)
by Muhammed Hamdy (Egypt, France, Tunisia)

Bahaa, a lovesick physician and his old friend Mahdy try to escape the ghosts of their past, running from one abandoned house to another as they are chased relentlessly by shadows.

Special Events

Opening film
Planet B (Planète) B by Aude Léa Rapin (France, Belgium)

Closing film
Little Jaffna by Lawrence Valin (France)

SIC@SIC Short Italian Cinema

In competition

At Least I Will Be 8 294 400 Pixel by Marco Talarico (Italy)
Billi il cowboy (Cowboy Billi) by Fede Gianni (Italy)
Nero argento (Black Silver) by Francesco Manzato (Italy)
Phantom by Gabriele Manzoni (Italy)
Playing God by Matteo Burani (Italy, France)
Sans Dieu by Alessandro Rocca (Italy)
Things That My Best Friend Lost by Marta Innocenti (Italy)

Special Events

Opening short films
Dark Globe by Donato Sansone (Italy, France)
The Eggregores’ Theory by Andrea Gatopoulos (Italy)

Closing short film
Domenica sera (Sunday Night) by Matteo Tortone (Italy)