The world's oldest film festival, which is organized by the Venice Biennale, will be held August 27 through September 6, 2008.
Russian cinema will be represented in the main competition by an Alexey German, Jr. film, Paper Soldier (Bumazhny Soldat), and in the Orizzonti section, which provides an overview of new cinema trends, by Mikheil Kalatozishvili's Wild Field (Dikoye Pole).
German, 31, one of Russia's hottest young directors, described the selection of his film as one of the 21 competing for the Golden Lion award as a victory.
The selection "means we have managed to find a cinema language ... that proved to be in demand among foreigners, who know little about us," German said.
Artyom Vasilyev, the picture's producer, said it had huge potential.
"On the one hand, the film describes important historical events, and on the other, it is a very human film about love and feelings," Vasilyev said.
The movie is based on a story about events at the Baikonur space center in 1961. Daniil Pokrovsky, a doctor involved in preparations for the first human spaceflight, is torn between fear for the heroic people and his love for his wife and lover.
The film's budget was $4 million, the bulk of which was provided by the Rossiya TV channel and the Russian culture agency.
An Andrei Zvyagintsev film, The Return (Vozvrashcheniye), won the Golden Lion award at the 60th Venice film festival in 2003.
No Russian film took part in the Cannes film festival in May 2008.
