A familiar presence in Venice’s competition section, having boasted two candidates for the Golden Lion in 2024, 2019 and 2018, and another in 2016 (only including works from the past decade), French international sales agent Playtime will be taking part in the most dazzling showcase at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival (2-12 September) with a local attraction: Nanni Moretti’s It Will Happen Tonight. A title which is arousing all the more interest for the fact the Italian maestro has only been selected in the Venetian competition once throughout his entire career (with Sweet Dreams in 1981), whereas he’s taken part in Cannes’ competition nine times (claiming a Palme d’Or in 2001 and a Best Director Prize in 1994) and in Berlin’s competition once (in 1986, earning a Special Jury Prize). This year’s selection sees Moretti returning to the Venice Film Festival for the first time since 1989 (when Red Lob was shown in a Special Screening within International Critics’ Week). As such, the film’s Venice-based world premiere on 5 September promises to be quite an event, with the film subsequently showcasing in Toronto (in a Special Presentation) and in San Sebastián (in the Perlak line-up) ahead of its release in Italy on 3 December (via 01 Distribution) and in France on 30 December (via Pan Distribution).

The Playtime team steered by Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, Sébastien Beffa and François Yon will also be pinning its hopes on two aces selected for the Giornate degli Autori line-up: A Woman Today by Robert Guédiguian (due for release in France on 21 October) and A Man’s Skin by Léa Domenach (due for release in France on 27 January 2027) which is set to close the parallel section.

The Lido, followed immediately by Toronto’s new market, will also see Playtime finalising sales on six Cannes-screened titles: Louis Clichy’s animated movie Iron Boy (awarded the Special Jury Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, as well as the Audience Award in Annecy, and set to be screened in Toronto’s Centrepiece section and San Sebastián’s Perlak line-up), Too Many Beasts by Italian-Swiss director Sarah Arnold, The Electric Kiss by Pierre Salvadori, Think Good by Géraldine Nakache, 9 Temples to Heaven by Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse and Goodbye Cruel World by Félix de Givry.

Last but not least, titles set to be pre-sold include Bertrand Bonello’s hotly anticipated work Santo Subito! (read our article – toplined by Mark Ruffalo) and Joyce A Nashawati’s Sound of Silence which are both now in post-production, alongside Emmanuel Courcol’s Greenland (see the article – due for release in France on 17 February 2027) and Julien Decoin’s French-Canadian feature The Otter Club.