Which French films will be screening in Venice?

by Fabien Lemercier

07/07/2023 - Overview of the best leads for French contenders, a list that is getting smaller at less than 3 weeks from the revelation of the selection by Alberto Barbera

Which French films will be screening in Venice?

DogMan by Luc Besson

On 25 July, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera will lift the veil on the line-up of the official selection of the 80th edition (30 August to 9 September) and rarely has the presence of French films competing for the Golden Lion taken so long to take shape, feeding many rumours in Paris. A brief review of the most likely candidates today.

Already mentioned by international forecasters, DogMan [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Luc Besson which announced with certainty for an out-of-competition slot may now have very good chances of being upgraded to competition. Produced by LBP and co-produced by EuropaCorp, the filmmaker’s 20th feature (who has so far never participated in any big festival’s competition) traces the incredible story of a kid, hurt by life, who will find solace in the love that his dogs have for him. Starring Caleb Landry Jones (Best Actor award in Cannes in 2021 for Nitram), Jojo T. Gibbs, Alioune Sané and Marisa Berenson, the film is sold internationally by Kinology.

Familiar with Venice, where she had unveiled Angel & Tony [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in International Critics’ Week in 2010 and The Last Hammer Blow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in competition in 2014 (winning the Marcello Mastroianni award), Alix Delaporte may be in a very good position with her third feature On The Pulse [+see also:
film review
interview: Alix Delaporte
film profile]. Starring Alice Isaaz, Roschdy Zem, Vincent Elbaz, Pascale Arbillot, Pierre Lottin and Jean-Charles Clichet, the film dives into the daily life os a prestigious news show, wallowing a young woman who must find her place in the team of reporters and with the show’s editor-in-chief… A Trésor Films production sold by Pyramide International.

Also potentially participating are La Bête [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] by Bertrand Bonello (with Léa Seydoux and George MacKay leading the cast) and Hors-saison [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile] by Stéphane Brizé (with Guillaume Canet and Alba Rohrwacher in the main roles), but the possibility of a big French surprise should not be excluded…

As a reminder, Les Indésirables [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ladj Ly and Giordano Gederl…
film profile] by Ladj Ly was announced this week for a world premiere in Toronto (from 7 to 17 September), and therefore won’t be travelling to the Lido. Finally, on the Venice out-of-competition side, (where could figure the French co-productions Coup de chance [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Woody Allen with its fully French cast, and The Palace [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Roman Polanski), in Orizzonti and in the parallel sections, emerge amongst others predictions for titles such as Making Of [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cédric Kahn
film profile] by Cédric Kahn, Sidonie in Japan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Élise Girard
film profile] by Élise Girard as well as The Dreamer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anaïs Tellenne
film profile] by Annaïs Tellenne.