Venice Film Festival on Sept. 4: Gabbriellini debuts in Horizons

Psychological battles with inner demons run through the two competition films scheduled for Sept. 4 at the Venice International Film Festival.

Cédric Kahn’s “15/18 (A Place To Heal)” follows 17-year-old Lucia, who arrives at a public hospital’s adolescent neuropsychiatry ward accompanied by police. She finds her longtime friend Eloïse there and meets other teenagers, each struggling with personal demons. The doctors, led by Etienne, treat and listen to the young patients while working with their families. The arrival of a mysterious boy named Enzo threatens to disrupt the fragile balance.

Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?” stars Geoffrey Rush as a Vietnam War veteran whose grip on reality begins to break down. In 1966, at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, the character goes to war believing he can become a courageous soldier like the heroes in films. After returning home, his only remaining connection to the world is Dr. Daniels, a psychiatrist at a hospital for veterans.

Edoardo Gabbriellini makes his Horizons debut with “La città dei vivi,” adapted from Nicola Lagioia’s novel. The film revisits the murder of Luca Varani, one of the most disturbing criminal cases of recent years, focusing on Varani’s daily life before he became a victim.

At the Authors’ Days, Nicola Sorcinelli’s “Balcanica” follows an Afghan father and son, both musicians, on a nightmare journey after the Taliban banned music in 2021. Their path crosses with that of an Italian doctor, played by Matilda De Angelis. In the out-of-competition program, Paul Schrader returns with “The Basics of Philosophy,” about a Midwestern university professor whose life is unsettled when a young man appears at his father’s funeral and reveals a family secret.