23/07/2024 - Great returns, some confirmations and a few surprises, both in competition and out, in the varied line-up of this year’s Venice Film Festival

Many international media outlets had already predicted several titles that will participate in the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival, which will take place from 28 August to 7 September. But artistic director Alberto Barbera has promised many more surprises during his press conference, and it is proving hard to disagree with him.

21 films are in Competition (2 fewer than last year), amongst which stands out the first feature shot entirely in English (between Madrid and New York) by Pedro Almodóvar, The Room Next Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Starring Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore and John Turturro, the film by the Spanish director (in Venice for the third time, after Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Parallel Mothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile]) tells the story of the rift between a mother, a war correspondent, and her daughter.

Three French films are in competition, all by directors selected by the festival for the first time: And Their Children After Them [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, a coming of age story that confirms the promising director twins; The Quiet Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine and Muriel Coulin
film profile], co-directed by the sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, starring Vincent Lindon as a single father with a son fascinated by right-wing extremists; Three Friends [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Emmanuel Mouret, which tells the story of the romantic relationships that unfold between three couples.

There are also Italian films: Gianni Amelio returns to Venice (his eighth time in competition, winner of the Golden Lion in 1998 for The Way We Laughed and Silver Lion for Best Director in 1994 for Lamerica) with Battlefield [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gianni Amelio
film profile], about the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918-19 which caused millions of deaths; Maura Delpero sets Vermiglio, the Mountain Bride [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile], her second feature after the Locarno-prized Maternal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile], in a village in the Dolomites at the end of the Second World War, and Sicilian Letters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio Grassadonia and Anton…
film profile] by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (in Venice for the first time after his films presented at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, Salvo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio Grassadonia and Anton…
interview: Sara Serraiocco
film profile] and Sicilian Ghost Story [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile]), which comically follows a fugitive mafia boss. Luca Guadagnino will also be present after his Silver Lion for Best Director for Bones and All [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], with Queer [+see also:
film review
film profile], almost entirely shot at Cinecittà, adapted from William Burroughs and starring Daniel Craig. The fifth and final Italian film is Diva Futura [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt (noticed for her debut film Settembre [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) about Riccardo Schicchi, who launched porn cinema in Italy.

Athina Rachel Tsangari returns, after her selection in 2010 with Attenberg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Athina Rachel Tsangari
film profile], with her fourth feature Harvest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Athina Rachel Tsangari
film profile], shot in 16mm film and set in England at the end of the 16th century, starring Caleb Landry Jones. From Norway, Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] by Dag Johan Haugerud (the third part of his trilogy that started with Sex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile], winner of several awards this year in the Panorama section in Berlin, while the release date of the second chapter, Dreams, is still to be confirmed) is an analysis of the sexual behaviours standing in contrast with social norms. Highly anticipated by cinephiles is April [+see also:
film review
interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile] by Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili, who won in San Sebastián in 2020 with her first feature Beginning [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile], which also received the 2020 Cannes label.

12 years after his latest film On the Road [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and 23 after his latest Venice selection with Behind the Sun [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Walter Salles returns with I’m Still Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the true story of the search for the wife of a socialist deputy who disappeared during the 1970s dictatorship. Venice regular Pablo Larrain (recently in competition with Jackie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Spencer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) returns with his latest woman’s portrait Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], about Maria Callas' golden exile in Paris, starring Angelina Jolie. From Argentina, the original voice of Luis Ortega (selected in Un Certain Regard in Cannes with his debut El Ángel [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) tells the story of a jockey in Kill the Jockey [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luis Ortega
film profile]. From Asia comes Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, who will present Youth (Homecoming) [+see also:
film review
film profile], the last volume in his documentary trilogy that began with Youth (Spring) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and was continued by Youth (Hard Times) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; as well as Singaporean filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua with Stranger Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the follow-up to his Locarno Golden Leopard winner A Land Imagined [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

US actor-director Brady Corbet visits the Lido for the third time, with his third feature, USA-UK-Hungary co-production The Brutalist [+see also:
film review
film profile]. No details were shared about the high anticipated Joker: Folie à deux by Todd Phillips and starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, while other films from the US include the erotic thriller Babygirl, an A24 production starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickison, from Dutch director Halina Reijn (Instinct [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Halina Reijn
film profile]), and the political indie thriller about white supremacists in 1980s USA titled The Order, from Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel.

We already know that the festival will open with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice by Tim Burton (leer noticia), while Pupi Avati will close the Mostra with the gothic film L'orto americano [+see also:
film review
interview: Pupi Avati
film profile]. Some films in the non-fiction out-of-competition slate reflect on current wars: Why War [+see also:
film review
interview: Amos Gitai
film profile] by Amos Gitai mixes fiction and non-fiction, starting from Freud and Einstein; young Russian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova has shot Russians at War on the front, while Ukrainian director Olha Zhurba proposes Songs of Slow Burning Earth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olha Zhurba
film profile]. Amongst the out-of-competition fiction films are Maldoror [+see also:
film review
interview: Fabrice Du Welz
film profile] by Belgian filmmaker Fabrice du Welz about the terrible case of the Marcinelle monster; French master Claude Lelouch in Venice for the first time with Finalement; Venice regular Harmony Korine with Baby Invasion; Wolfs by Jon Watts starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney; cult Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa returns with Cloud, and, as a last-minute gift, Takeshi Kitano with a surprising Broken Rage.

To note finally are the series Families Like Ours [+see also:
series review
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
series profile] by Thomas Vinterberg in which Denmark is submerged under water, Los años nuevos, [+see also:
series review
series profile] a new work from Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, M - Il figlio del secolo from British filmmaker Joe Wright starring Luca Marinelli about the birth and development of fascism in Italy, and Alfonso Cuarón's UK-US co-production Disclaimer [+see also:
series review
series profile], starring Cate Blanchett.

The Orizzonti and Orizzonti Extra films have also been unveiled (read news).

The films selected:

Competition

The Room Next Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
Battlefield [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gianni Amelio
film profile] - Gianni Amelio (Italy)
And Their Children After Them [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma (France)
The Brutalist [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Brady Corbet (UK)
The Quiet Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine and Muriel Coulin
film profile] - Delphine & Muriel Coulin (France)
Vermiglio, the Mountain Bride [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile] - Maura Delpero (Italy/France/Belgium)
Sicilian Letters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio Grassadonia and Anton…
film profile] - Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza (Italy/France)
Queer [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Luca Guadagnino (Italy/USA)
Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] - Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)
April [+see also:
film review
interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile] - Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia/France/Italy)
The Order - Justin Kurzel (Canada)
Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Pablo Larraín (Italy/Germany/USA)
Three Friends [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Emmanuel Mouret (France)
Kill the Jockey [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luis Ortega
film profile] - Luis Ortega (Argentina/Mexico/Spain/Denmark/USA)
Joker: Folie à deux - Todd Phillips (USA)
Babygirl - Halina Reijn (USA)
I'm Still Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Walter Salles (Brazil/France)
Diva futura [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Giulia Louise Steigerwalt (Italy)
Harvest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Athina Rachel Tsangari
film profile] - Athina Rachel Tsangari (UK/Germany/Greece/France/USA)
Youth (Homecoming) [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Wang Bing (France/Luxembourg/Netherlands/China)
Stranger Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Yeo Siew Hua (Singapore/Taiwan/France/USA)

Out of Competition - Fiction

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Tim Burton (USA) (opening film)
Se posso permettermi (Capitolo II) - Marco Bellocchio (Italy) (short film)
Il tempo che ci vuole [+see also:
film review
interview: Francesca Comencini
film profile] - Francesca Comencini (Italy/France)
Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 1) - Kevin Costner (USA)
Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 2) - Kevin Costner (USA)
Phantosmia - Lav Diaz (Philippines)
Maldoror [+see also:
film review
interview: Fabrice Du Welz
film profile] - Fabrice du Welz (Belgium/France)
Broken Rage - Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
Baby Invasion - Harmony Korine (USA)
Cloud - Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)
Finalement [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Claude Lelouch (France)
Allégorie citadine - Alice Rohrwacher & JR (France) (short film)
Wolfs - Jon Watts (USA)
L'orto americano [+see also:
film review
interview: Pupi Avati
film profile] - Pupi Avati (Italy) (closing film)

Out of Competition - Non-Fiction

Apocalypse in the Tropics - Petra Costa (Brazil/USA/Denmark)
Bestiari, erbari, lapidari [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martina Parenti and Massimo…
film profile] - Massimo D'Anolfi & Martina Parenti (Italy/Switzerland)
Why War [+see also:
film review
interview: Amos Gitai
film profile] - Amos Gitai (France/Switzerland/Israel/Italy)
2073 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Asif Kapadia (UK)
One to One: John & Yoko [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards (UK)
Separated - Errol Morris (USA)
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 [+see also:
film review
interview: Göran Hugo Olsson
film profile] - Göran Hugo Olsson (Sweden/Finland/Denmark)
Russians at War - Anastasia Trofimova (France/Canada)
TWST - Things We Said Today [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Andrei Ujica (France/Romania)
Riefenstahl [+see also:
film review
interview: Andres Veiel
film profile] - Andres Veiel (Germany)
Songs of Slow Burning Earth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olha Zhurba
film profile] - Olha Zhurba (Ukraine/Denmark/Sweden/France)

Out of Competition - Series

Disclaimer [+see also:
series review
series profile] - Alfonso Cuarón (UK/USA)
Los años nuevos [+see also:
series review
series profile] - Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain)
Families Like Ours [+see also:
series review
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
series profile] - Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark/Sweden/France)
M - Il figlio del secolo - Joe Wright (Italy/France)

Out of Competition - Special Screenings

Leopardi. Il poeta dell'infinito - Sergio Rubini (Italy)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Peter Weir (USA) (2003)
Beauty Is Not a Sin - Nicolas Winding Refn (Italy/Denmark) (short film)

Biennale College Cinema

The Fisherman - Zoey Martinson (Ghana)
January 2 - Zsófia Szilágyi (Hungary)
Honeymoon [+see also:
film review
interview: Zhanna Ozirna
film profile] - Zhanna Ozirna (Ukraine)
My Birthday [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Christian Filippi (Italy)

(Translated from Italian)