Robert Guédiguian’s "La Villa" will compete at 74th Venice Film Festival

PanARMENIAN.Net - French-Armenian filmmaker Robert Guédiguian’s 2017 film "La Villa" will compete at the 74th Venice Film Festival, the festival's official website says.

"La Villa" (English title: The House by the Sea) is set at a picturesque villa owned by an old man by a little bay near Marseille. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days: Angela, an actress living in Paris; Joseph, who has just fallen in love with a girl half his age; and Armand, the only one who stayed behind in Marseille to run the family’s small restaurant. It is time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s ideals and the community spirit he created in this magical place. The arrival, at a nearby cove, of a group of boat people will throw into turmoil these moments of reflection in this magical place.

Guédiguian is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. Most of his films—including La Villa—star Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin.

He is the son of a German mother and an Armenian father. He evokes his paternal roots in his 2006 film Le Voyage en Armenie (Voyage to Armenia). He has a working-class background: His father is a worker on the Marseille docks.

Guédiguian was recruited for jury duty at last year's Venice Film Festival as president of the jury for the Horizons section.