Munich Olympics Massacre Drama ‘September 5’ Set For Venice Fest

Italian drama “Nonostante” by actor-director Valerio Mastandrea, and 1972 Munich Summer Olympics drama “September 5″ – helmed by Tim Fehlbaum and starring Peter Sarsgaard – have been set as openers of the Venice Film Festival’s cutting edge Horizons and Horizons Extra sections respectively.

The timely “September 5,” which has been picked up by Republic Pictures, reconstructs tough decisions made by an American sports broadcasting team that rapidly adapted from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage.

“Through this lens, ‘September 5’ provides a powerful new perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by an estimated one billion people at the time,” according to the film’s provided synopsis.

“September 5” is produced by Germany’s BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion and Projected Picture Works, in co-production with Constantin Film and ERF Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion. 

Sean Penn is among “September 5″ producers along with Philipp Trauer, Thomas Wöbke, Tim Fehlbaum, Sean Penn, John Ira Palmer, and John Wildermuth.

“Nonostante” (the title translates as “despite”) is the second feature directed by Mastandrea who also stars as a hospitalized man whose peaceful existence is disrupted by the arrival in the same ward of a restless, angry woman who is bursting with a powerful vitality.

The film’s producers are Viola Prestieri and Valeria Golino for HT Film; Francesco Tatò and Oscar Glioti for Damocle; Moreno Zani and Malcom Pagani for Tenderstories with RAI Cinema. BiM Distribuzione is the film’s Italian distributor.  

“Nonostante” will open the Horizons competition on Aug. 28, while “September 5″ will premiere in Horizons Extra on Aug. 29.

The Horizons Extra section is an extension of Horizons, the Venice section focusing on new trends in world cinema. While Horizons movies are judged by a jury – headed this year by “Winter’s Bone” director Debra Granik – Horizons Extra entries are judged by the festival audience.

The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival will run Aug. 28-Sept. 7. The full lineup will be announced on July 23.