Luca Guadagnino told the Venice Film Festival Tuesday that his new documentary on Bernardo Bertolucci, 'Joie de Vivre', was born from his love for the 1900, Last Tango In Paris and Last Emperor auteur who die aged 77 in November 2018.
    The Call Me By Your Name and Bigger Splash director told reporters the new two-part documentary was a collection of "notes, thoughts, words, reflections, faces, visions on Bertolucci and the 20th-century cinephilia that no longer exists." Presenting the first, three-hour section of the seven-hour documentary, whose second and final part will be screened on Wednesday, Guadagnino said "It's a film I made literally for the love of Bernardo Bertolucci, for the love of what he taught me." The documentary, he said, "starts from my personal connection with Bernardo and his work, then opens up to discussions with some of his closest collaborators and most passionate enthusiasts.
    "Together, we will explore the legacy of Bertolucci's cinema: how his films revolutionized the very idea of the seventh art, especially for those who have yet to discover them, and why certain time-honored critical interpretations have proven profoundly shortsighted and, ultimately, misleading." Joie de Vivre is produced by Francesco Melzi d'Eril and Gabriele Moratti for MeMo Films, co-produced by Tenderstories; Cinecittà Luce is participating by granting rights and materials from its film and audiovisual heritage.
    After Venice, Guadagnino will also be a featured guest at the New York Film Festival, where Artificial, the film dedicated to a pivotal moment in the career of Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, will have its world premiere on October 5th.
    The cast includes Andrew Garfield, Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Ike Barinholtz, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, and Chris O'Dowd.
    The film has been through a difficult few months: in June, it was dropped in post-production by Amazon MGM, the studio that was supposed to distribute it worldwide.
    This decision was set against the backdrop of the massive $50 billion, multi-year deal between Amazon and the artificial intelligence company founded by Sam Altman.
    Artificial, however, was acquired a few weeks later for worldwide distribution by Neon (it will be released in Italy by I Wonder Pictures).
    "The most remarkable aspect of Luca Guadagnino's astute and disturbing film is his ability to find the perfect tone to explain how we arrived at the abyss of artificial intelligence," explained NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim.
    "Artificial charts this trajectory with lucid horror, dark humor, and a sense of existential urgency.

If ever there was a perfect film for our time, this is it." Also on Tuesday, Guadagnino, received the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival.
    "I dedicate this honour to all the filmmakers and all the young critics who are in the theatre, because you are the pillars on which we rely," he said.

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