Let’s have a look at the amazing line-up for this year’s Biennale. I took a friend and his girlfriend to lunch today and we were talking about the strange timing of these various major film festivals. Cannes is in a bit of a strange month because May is a strange month for films to be released.

Basically, if the year overall has been stuffed to the gills with good movies then Cannes will have a great edition. But if the vintage is not a good one, it will show down on the riviera. On the other hand, Toronto and the Venice Film Festival (the “Mostra”) have the perfect time slot. Because anything that’s been done in the first half of the year will be scheduled for a Mostra or a Toronto premiere–once the large blockbusters have cleared the Summer pipeline, here come the indie and foreign heavy-hitters; but sales will go in a frenzy at Toronto, since the Mostra does not have a market.

click here for the run-down on this year’s selection; to be noted, our writer A.J. Goldmann will be reporting from the Lido and offers us his movie highlights.