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
Up in the Air (2009 film) in order to maintain a streak of debuting his films at TIFF. During October and November 2009, "Up in the Air" screened at festivals including the Aspen Filmfest, the Woodstock Film Festival, the Hamptons International Film Festival, the Mill Valley Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival, the London Film Festival, the St. Louis International Film Festival, the Starz Denver Film Festival, and the Stockholm International Film Festival. It was the only American film to compete for the Golden Marc'Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film at the International Rome Film Festival. On November 6, "The New York Times" film critic Janet