66th Venice International Film Festival 66th Venice International Film Festival The 66th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was held from 2 to 12 September 2009, with Maria Grazia Cucinotta serving as the festival's hostess. The opening film of the festival was "Baarìa" by Giuseppe Tornatore and the closing film was "Chengdu, I Love You" by Fruit Chan and Cui Jian. The international competition jury, chaired by Ang Lee, awarded the Golden Lion to "Lebanon" by Samuel Maoz. The international juries of the 66th Venice International Film Festival were composed as follows: Main competition (Venezia 66) Horizons (Orizzonti) Opera Prima ("Luigi de
The Art of the Steal (2009 film) Q&A session where they haven't had to throw us out, because it went on too long." Ten days after its premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was acquired by Rainbow Media, now AMC Networks, and owner of IFC Films. The film was ultimately distributed to more than 100 theaters in North America and made available for online streaming through SundanceNow. In addition to the New York Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, the film was also named an Official Selection of the AFI Film Festival 2009. In response to the film's release, Bernard C. Watson,