“Some stars will be gone, but this will not be an autarchic exhibition.” Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival, immediately clarified the situation at a press conference for the 80th edition of the film festival, which ran from 30 August to 9 September. “The red carpet won’t be that easy,” he notes. Emma Stone and Penélope Cruz will be out to name a few of the biggest names, but performers who have worked on independent productions are not part of the Hollywood cast strike that has paralyzed film sets and will be leaving festivals.
Six Italian films will take part in the competition this year: Commander Edoardo De Angelis with Pierfrancesco Favino, already announced as the opening film. And then I am the captain Matteo Garrone; Finally dawn Saverio Costanzo; Aeneasthe second long-awaited work of Pietro Castellitto, the main character along with Benedetta Porcaroli; Ljubo Giorgio Rights; Slowly again Stefano Sollima with Favino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea and others.
There are 23 films competing for the Golden Lion, the titles of which were already largely filtered out in the weeks leading up to the announcement. Among them is expected Dogman Luc Besson; Ownerco-directed by actor Bradley Cooper, which here focuses on the biography of composer Bernstein; PriscillaSofia Coppola’s highly anticipated new film about the true story of Elvis Presley’s wife; Murderernew thriller by David Fincher with Michael Fassbender; Poor things Yorgos Lanthimos with Emma Stone, a kind of Frankenstein woman driven by an insatiable sexual insatiability; El Conde Pablo Larrain with the vampire Pinochet and ferrari Michael Mann with Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz.
Out of competition, two controversial names will arrive at the Lido: Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. First with Coupe de Chancesecond with Castle.
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Venezia Classici – Film Documentaries
- Bill Douglas – My best friend Jack Archer
- Pro-Nazi Hitchcock films Daphne Bayvir
- Thank you very much Alex Braverman on Andy Kaufman
- **Landrian **Ernest Daranas Serrano on Cuba’s greatest documentary filmmaker
- Another Italy was possible, cinema by Giuseppe De Santis Steve DellaCasa
- Michel Gondry – DIY François Nemeth
- Ken Jacobs Fred Riedel
- Dario Argento Panic Simone Skafidi
- Frank Capra – Mister America Matthew Wells
horizons
- In the open sky Mariana Arriaga and Santiago Arriaga from a script that their father Guillermo never wrote. According to Barbera, “a road movie about three boys who seek revenge for the death of their father.”
- El Paraiso Enrico Maria Artale with Edoardo Pesce. “This is a portrait of a forty-year-old man in a symbiotic relationship with his mother, whose life is turned upside down by the advent of a woman”
- **beyond the mountains ** Mohammed Ben Attia, “the director’s third film already awarded the Silver Bear in Berlin, the story of a father released from prison who wants to reveal a strange power to his son.”
- red suitcase Fidel Devkota, “A ghost story in debut from Nepal”.
- **Tatami **Gaya Nattiv and King Amir Ebrahimi, “The Story of the Iranian Judo Champion”.
- Heaven is on fire Mika Gustafson, “the story of three young sisters threatened by separation due to their mother’s absence and hidden social services.”
- Feather-weight Robert Kolodny, “cameraman’s second job, one of two boxing films of choice.”
- **Invel ** Simone Massi, “the first feature film of the great animator, an incredible and very long production, the story of a peasant family, seen from below, from the 1920s to the present day” –
- Tereddut çizgisi (The wound of indecision) Selman Nekar, “the second feature film from Turkey, the gripping story of a lawyer who must face a moral dilemma.”
- **Heartless ** Nara Normande, Tiao, “adapted from a 2014 Quinzaine Award-winning short film, the story of a teenager in a holiday village infatuated with a local girl.”
- Endless Sunday Alena Parroni, “an austere and bold first film that eschews traditional Italian cinema models, a story of nihilism and revolt in the Roman suburbs, a sensory experience that aspires to be the manifesto of a lost generation.”
- Ser ser sakhli (Wind City) Lhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, “the debut of the award-winning Mongolian filmmaker Horizons, an exploration of the dreams and desires of youth.”
- Magyarázat mindenre (Explanation of everything) Gabor Reis, “I will be reproached for not submitting a portrait of today’s Hungary to the competition.”
- Caroline Rainbow Bill and Turner Ross, “the first film by two brothers who have already made a name for themselves in documentaries, with typical American touring elements.”
- en at la nuit Céline Rouzet, “A French vampire film that transcends the genre, a metaphor for vampirism that tells a story of teenage discomfort.”
- Domakinstvo za pocetnici (Housekeeping for beginners) Goran Stolevski, “from North Macedonia, a flamboyant apologist developed by the College Biennale on the meaning of family and the difficulty of being gay and gypsy in this territory.”
- **Hokage (Shadow of Fire) ** Shinya Tsukamoto, “an author we didn’t expect to see in Orizzonti: he returns to a beloved theme, the consequences of war for people, between a traumatized soldier and a child who embodies hope.”
- Yurt (dormitory) Nehir Tuna, “an amazing first work reminiscent of Fists in your pocket Bellocchio, which makes us understand where Erdogan’s Islamic Türkiye came from.”
Additional horizons
- **Botha John ** Luana Bajrami, “a very young actress who returns to her country, Kosovo, for a teenage story.”
- **Forever-Forever (Forever Forever) ** Anna Buryachkova, “taken before the conflict in Ukraine and completed only today, this is a portrait of a teenager.”
- El Rapto (Rescue) Daniela Goggi, “the fourth feature film, a reenactment of the very famous kidnapping in post-democratic Argentina.”
- Fight Day Danny Huston, “The actor’s debut follows the boxer’s last twenty-four hours as he returns to fight Michael Pitt and Joe Pesci.”
- In the land of saints and sinners Robert Lorenz, “Former collaborator Clint Eastwood’s Irish production of a genre film set during the Civil War with Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon and Jack Gleason.”
- Happiness Micaela Ramazzotti, “the only Italian film in Orizzonti Extra, debuts with amazing skill from an aspiring makeup artist struggling with a dysfunctional family influenced by two of Ramazzotti’s films: Mad Joy AND Live”.
- The boys from the pet shop Olmo Schnabel, “first work with Jack Irv, Willem Dafoe, Emmanuelle Seigner and Peter Saargard, the story of a bond between two very different brothers.”
- Stolen Karana Taipal, “a dazzling Indian debut film inserted at the very end of the program, moving from a social dimension to a breathtaking thriller.”
- Man from Argyle Anais Tellenne, “the debut of a young Belgian actress, a whimsical and sensual story with erotic overtones, a romantic interpretation of the myth of the Golem with a social background and memories of Edgar Allan Poe.”
Special Screening
- The lion’s share: the history of the exhibition Baptista Echegaray and Giuseppe Bucca, compiled from archival materials, dedicated to the eightieth edition of the exhibition.
Out of Competition – Series
- D’argent et de sang (eps 1-12) Xavier Giannoli and Frederic Planchon. Twelve 50-minute episodes, “a high-profile thriller starring Vincent Lyndon as a magistrate who is set to lead a tax crime task force.”
- I know your soul (ep 1-2) Jasmila Zbanic and Damir Ibrahimovic, “6 episodes in which the judge fights the history of bullying her son, and Jasna Djuricic is already the main character Quo vadis, Aida? Zbanich.
Out of Competition – Nonfiction
- Love Virginia Eleutheri Serpieri, “the first work of a Roman artist who tries to heal a personal wound, the suicide of her mother in the Tiber”.
- Before Guernica Yervant Gianikyan and Angela Ricci Luchka, “commissioned by the Museum of Reina Sofia, signed by Yervant with his missing wife”
- Hollywoodgate Ibrahim Nashat, “an Egyptian-born filmmaker with a German production who managed to get accreditation after a new Taliban commander after the Taliban returned to Afghanistan.”
- Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus Noe Sora, “a touching reprise of the musician’s last concert before his death, with a clear desire for artistic and spiritual testament.”
- Enzo Giannacci, I’m coming too Giorgio Verdelli, “a tribute to the moonlit singer-songwriter”.
- Menu Plaisirs – Les troisgros Frederic Wiseman, “At 93, the master offers a four-hour journey behind the scenes of one of the most famous star French restaurants.”
Out of competition – fantasy