Great expectations

The second week at the Lido shows no signs of slowing down: star-studded casts, bold productions, and highly anticipated works dominate today’s lineup. Leading the way is In the Hand of Dante, Julian Schnabel’s latest effort, which will receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award. A constellation of stars shines on this adaptation of Nick Tosches’s novel about the discovery of the original manuscript of the Divine Comedy: Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, John Malkovich, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Louis Cancelmi, Italians Franco Nero and Sabrina Impacciatore, plus the versatile Benjamin Clementine, apparently making a definitive break from music. Absent are Gal Gadot and Gerald Butler, criticized for ties to the Israeli government.
The voice of Gaza is brought by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania with The Voice of Hind Rajab, backed by Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer. Based on a true story, it recounts the ordeal of a six-year-old girl trapped under bombardment. Echoing this is Kabul, Between Prayers by Aboozar Amini, an intimate portrait of hope in a war-torn country. Also awaited: Pietro Marcello’s Duse, with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi celebrating Eleonora Duse, mother of all divas. Crime features in Daniel Hendler’s Un cabo suelto and in Notes of a True Criminal by Alexander Rodnyansky and Andriy Alferov. Rounding out the lineup: Ana Cristina Barragán’s Hiedra and Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Human Resource.