The Venice Film Festival may have lost its initial opener when MGM and Amazon Studios decided to pull their Zendaya-led sports movie Challengers from its prime spot, but the lineup retained every other film according to Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera, who has put together an impressive program with a helping hand from Netflix.
The streamer is bringing its big guns to the Lido, including Bradley Cooper‘s Leonard Bernstein drama Maestro, David Fincher‘s crime thriller The Killer starring Michael Fassbender, and Wes Anderson‘s short film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the latter of which is based on the short story by Roald Dahl and will premiere out-of-competition. Netflix also has Pablo Larrain‘s El Conde, which takes aim at dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Maestro and The Killer will debut in competition against films from Michael Mann (Ferrari starring Adam Driver), Sofia Coppola (Priscilla, as in Presley), Ava DuVernay (Origin), and Yorgos Lanthimos, whose Emma Stone-led movie Poor Things was just delayed from September to December by Searchlight Pictures, likely due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Venice’s competition lineup also includes films from international directors such as Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Evil Does Not Exist), Agnieszka Holland (The Green Border), Saverio Costanzo (Finally Dawn), Matteo Garrone (Io Capitano), Michel Franco (Memory starring Jessica Chastain), Stefano Sollima (Adagio), Nikolaj Arcel (The Promised Land starring Mads Mikkelsen), and perhaps most notably, Luc Besson, whose film Dogman stars Caleb Landry Jones.
Besson was recently acquitted of rape charges, and Barbera defended his inclusion, as well as those of both Woody Allen (the romantic thriller Coup De Chance) and Roman Polanski (the black comedy The Palace), noting that Allen will attend the premiere of his new film, though he’s unlikely to do much press. Polanski, however, is unable to attend the festival due to the extradition policy between Italy and the United States, where Polanski technically remains a fugitive.
“We invited Roman three years ago and he won the Grand Jury Prize for his film. Why would we have any doubt about inviting his new one if his last one just a few years ago did so well? Nothing has changed. The debate hasn’t changed,” Barbero told Deadline. “We’re stuck in this useless situation that doesn’t make any sense from my point of view. Roman has admitted his behavior and accepted it was wrong. The victim has forgiven him multiple times. Why do we need to continue to attack an 89-year-old master of cinema?”
Barbera continued, telling the trade that “the situations of Woody Allen and Luc Besson are different [from that of Polanski]. Allen has not been found guilty of anything and was much investigated in the 1990s, and Besson recently had his case closed by a French court and he was cleared of all charges against him. We’re discussing things that don’t exist. As a festival, my position is that we need to make a distinction between the behavior of the artist and the art itself. Otherwise, we need to reevaluate art throughout all of history.”
Obviously, these three filmmakers provoke passionate responses from people on both sides, so I won’t begrudge anyone who feels angered or upset, just as I’d hope they wouldn’t judge me based on my personal willingness and ability to separate the art from the artist.
As far as the impact of Hollywood’s double strike goes, it does not, indeed, seem as though the major studios and streamers are adjusting their awards season plans wholesale, as they are clearly moving forward with their original plans for the fall festival circuit. And even though there’s a distinct possibility that the Actors Strike will prevent the kind of red carpet photo ops that travel around the world and serve as great publicity for the studios, the truth is that festivals exist to service actual films, not stars. Yes, stars are part of it, but it’s the movies themselves that will generate plenty of conversation, regardless of who’s on the Lido to promote them.
That includes Cooper, who apparently made it clear to Barbera that if the SAG-AFTRA strike is still going by the time Venice’s 80th edition launches on Aug. 30, he will not attend the festival in solidarity with his fellow actors.
Elsewhere, the Venice lineup also includes Richard Linklater‘s Hit Man starring Glen Powell, William Friedkin‘s courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court Martial starring Kiefer Sutherland, Robert Lorenz’s Irish thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners starring Liam Neeson and Kerry Condon, and Harmony Korine‘s new movie Aggro Dr1ft starring Jordi Molla and rapper Travis Scott, as well as actor Jack Huston‘s boxing drama Day of the Fight starring Michael Pitt and J.A. Bayona‘s survival thriller Society of the Snow, which will close the festival.
La La Land director Damien Chazelle will serve as president of the competition jury, and you can find the festival’s full lineup below:
COMPETITION
Comandante, Edoardo De Angelis (Italy) – Opening Film
The Promised Land, Nikolaj Arcel (Denmark, Germany, Sweden)
Dogman, Luc Besson (France)
Le Bête, Bertrand Bonello (France, Canada)
Hors-Saison, Stéphane Brizé (France)
Enea, Pietro Castellitto (Italy)
Maestro, Bradley Cooper (U.S.)
Priscilla, Sofia Coppola (U.S., Italy)
Finally Dawn, Saverio Costanzo (Italy)
Lubo, Giorgio Diritti (Italy)
Origin, Ava DuVernay (U.S.)
The Killer, David Fincher (U.S.)
Memory, Michel Franco (Mexico, U.S.)
Io Capitano, Matteo Garrone (Italy, Belgium)
Evil Does Not Exist, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
The Green Border, Agnieszka Holland (Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium)“
The Theory of Everything, Timm Kröger (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos (U.K.)
El Conde, Pablo Larrain (Chile)
Ferrari, Michael Mann (U.S.)
Adagio, Stefano Sollima (Italy)
Woman Of, Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert (Poland, Sweden)
Holly, Fien Torch (Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France)
HORIZONS
A Cielo Aperto, Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga (Mexico, Spain)
El Paraiso, Enrico Maria Artale (Italy)
Behind the Mountains, Mohamed Ben Attia (Tunisia, Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
The Red Suitcase, Fidel Devkota (Nepal, Sri Lanka)
Tatami, Guy Nattiv, Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Georgia, U.S.)
Paradise is Burning, Mika Gustavson (Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland)
The Featherweight, Robert Kolodny (U.S.)
Invelle, Simone Massi (Italy, Switzerland)
Hesitation Wound, Selman Nacar (Turkey, Spain, Romania, France)
Heartless, Nara Normande, Tião (Brazil, France, Italy)
Una Sterminata Domenica, Alain Parroni (Italy, Germany, Ireland)
City of Wind, Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia, Portugal, The Netherlands)
Explanation for Everything, Gábor Reisz (Hungary, Slovacchia)
Gasoline Rainbow, Bill Ross, Turner Ross (U.S.)
En Attendant La Nuit, Céline Rouzet (France, Belgium)
Housekeeping for Beginners, Goran Stolevski (North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo)
Shadow of Fire, Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
Dormitory, Nehir Tuna (Turkey, Germany, France)
HORIZONS EXTRA
Bota Jonë, Luàna Barjami (Kosovo, France)
Forever Forever, Anna Buryachkova (Ukraine, The Netherlands)
The Rescue, Daniela Goggi (Argentina, U.S.)
Day of the Fight, Jack Huston (U.S.)
In the Land of Saints and Sinners, Robert Lorenz (Ireland)
Felicità, Micaela Ramazzotti (Italy)
Pet Shop Boys, Olmo Schnabel (Italy, U.K. Mexico)
Stolen, Karan Tejpal (India)
L’Homme D’Argille, Anaïs Tellene (France)
OUT OF COMPETITION – SERIES
D’argent et de sang (Episodes 1-12), Xavier Giannoli, Fredéric Planchon (France, Belgium)
I Know Your Soul (Episodes 1-2), created by Jasmila Zbanic and Damir Ibrahimovic, directed by Alen Drjević and Nermin Hamzagic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
OUT OF COMPETITION – NON-FICTION
Amor, Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri (Italy, Lithuania)
Frente A Guernica, (Uncut Version) Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi (Italy)
Hollywoodgate, Ibrahim Nash’at (Germany, U.S.)
Ryuichi Sakamoto — Opus, Neo Sora (Japan)
Enzo Jannacci Vengo Anch’io, Giorgio Verdelli (Italy)
Menus Plaisirs, Frederik Wiseman (France)
OUT OF COMPETITION — FICTION
Society of the Snow, J.A. Bayona (Spain, Uruguay, Chile) – Closing Film
Coup de Chance, Woody Allen (France, U.K.)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Wes Anderson (U.S.)
The Penitent, Luca Barbareschi (Italy)
L’Ordine Del Tempo, Liliana Cavani (Italy)
Vivants, Alix Delaporte (France, Belgium)
Welcome to Paradise, Leonardo di Constanzo
DAAAAAALI!, Quentin Dupieux (France)
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, William Friedkin
Making of, Cédric Kahn (France)
Aggro Dr1ft, Harmony Korine (U.S.)
Hit Man, Richard Linklater (U.S.)
The Palace, Roman Polanski (Poland, France)
Snow Leopard, Pema Tseden (China)
