UPDATED, with more detail: The Venice Film Festival unveiled the lineup for its 78th edition Monday morning with a notably strong studio presence after last year’s near dearth of Hollywood titles and muted star attendance. Universal (with Blumhouse’s previously announced Halloween Kills and Focus’ Last Night In Soho and The Card Counter), Warner Bros (with Legendary’s also previously confirmed Dune) and Disney (with 20th Century’s The Last Duel) will all be represented in town and each was thanked by Venice chief Alberto Barbera for supporting the event. “There is a strong comeback of the Americans,” he said. Scroll down for a full list of titles announced today.
Also showing up is Netflix, which has a cozy relationship with Venice. On the streamer’s roster are Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God and Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog, both in competition.
Venice has been a key jumping-off point for awards season in the past decade including hosting the simultaneous world premiere of eventual Best Picture Oscar winner Nomadland with Toronto in 2020. That film’s Chloé Zhao is on the Venice jury this year, with Bong Joon Ho serving as president.
If talent is willing and able to travel, Venice is set to be a very starry affair — all the better to raise profiles and launch global campaigns thanks to one of the best photo-op backdrops a festival can offer. Big names motoring in by speedboat could include Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel; Kristen Stewart for Pablo Larrain’s Spencer; Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog; Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz with Competencia Oficial (the actress also doubling up with Pedro Almodóvar’s opening night film Parallel Mothers); Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Ed Harris in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feature directing debut The Lost Daughter; and Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter. Isaac has three projects in the selection including HBO series Scenes From a Marriage with Jessica Chastain and out-of-competition world premiere Dune which could also draw the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and more to the Lido. Also pulling triple duty is The Great Beauty star Toni Servillo.
Campion is one of five female directors in the main section, a dip from eight last year, though Barbera noted that overall female filmmakers represent 26% of the selection versus 28% in 2020, and remarked that the drop was “a temporary situation.”
Barbera further noted that the quality of all films submitted was “higher than usual as if the pandemic had stimulated creativity. Many had to be rejected because of a lack of space.”
Still, he added that 59 countries are represented — including a heavy contingent of Italian titles from such filmmakers as Michelangelo Frammartino (Il Buco), the D’Innocenzo brothers (America Latina), Gabriele Mainetti (Freaks Out) and Sorrentino, among others. French auteurs include Stéphane Brizé (Un Autre Monde, which stars Palme d’Or winner Titane‘s Vincent Lindon) and Xavier Giannoli (Illusions Perdues). What’s more, a new project from Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, Rhino, will debut in the Horizons section. Also in Horizons is Harry Wootliff’s True Things which stars and is produced by Ruth Wilson.
Venice runs September 1-11 this year and there will be similar Covid controls in place as with the 2020 edition. That means social distancing inside the cinemas and a Green Pass signifying vaccination status or a recent negative test for entry to screenings. Further controls are expected to be elaborated upon as the event draws near.
Here’s the full lineup:
VENEZIA 78 – COMPETITION
Madres Paralelas, dir: Pedro Almodovar
Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon, dir: Ana Lily Amirpour
Un Autre Monde, dir: Stéphane Brizé
The Power Of The Dog, dir: Jane Campion
America Latina, dir: Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo
L’Evénement, dir: Audrey Diwan
Competencia Oficial, dirs: Gaston Duprat, Mariano Cohn
Il Buco, dir: Michelangelo Frammartino
Sundown, dir: Michel Franco
Illusions Perdues, dir: Xavier Giannoli
The Lost Daughter, dir: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Spencer, dir: Pablo Larrain
Freaks Out, dir: Gabriele Mainetti
Qui Rido Io, dir: Mario Martone
On The Job: The Missing 8, dir: Erik Matti
Leave No Traces, dir: Jan P Matuszynski
Captain Volkonogov Escaped, dirs: Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov
The Card Counter, dir: Paul Schrader
The Hand Of God, dir: Paolo Sorrentino
La Caja, dir: Lorenzo Vigas
Reflection, dir: Valentyn Vasyanovych
OUT OF COMPETITION – FICTION
Il Bambino Nascosto, dir: Roberto Ando
Les Choses Humaines, dir: Yvan Attal
Ariaferma, dir: Leonardo Di Costanzo
Halloween Kills, dir: David Gordon Green
La Scuola Cattolica, dir: Stefano Mordini
Old Henry, dir: Potsy Ponciroli
The Last Duel, dir: Ridley Scott
Dune, dir: Denis Villeneuve
Last Night In Soho, dir: Edgar Wright
OUT OF COMPETITION – NON-FICTION
Life Of Crime 1984-2020, dir: Jon Alpert
Tranchées, dir: Loup Bureau
Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo, dir: Augusto Contento
Republic Of Silence, dir: Diana El Jeiroudi
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, dirs: Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
Deandré#Deandré Storio Di Un Impiegato, dir: Roberta Lena
Django & Django, dir: Luca Rea
Ezio Bosso. Le Cose Che Restano, dir: Giorgio Verdelli
OUT OF COMPETITION – SERIES
Scenes From A Marriage (Episodes 1-5), dir: Hagai Levi
OUT OF COMPETITION – SHORT FILMS
Plastic Semiotic, dir: Radu Jude
The Night, dir: Tsai Ming-liang
Sad Film, dir: Vasili
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Le 7 Giornate Di Bergamo, dir: Simona Ventura
La Biennale Di Venezia: Il Cinema Al Tempo Del Covid, dir: Andrea Segre
HORIZONS EXTRA
Land Of Dreams, dirs: Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari
Costa Brava, dir: Mounia Akl
Mama I’m Home, dir: Vladimir Bitokov
Ma Nuit, dir: Antoinette Boulat
La Ragazza Ha Volato, dir: Wilma Labate
7 Prisoners, dir: Alexandre Moratto
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic, dir: Teemu Nikki
La Macchina Delle Immagini Di Alfredo C, dir: Roland Sejko
HORIZONS
Les Promesses, dir: Thomas Kruithof
Atlantide, dir: Yuri Ancarani
Miracle, dir: Bogdan George Apetri
Pilgrims, dir: Laurynas Bareisa
Il Paradiso Del Pavone, dir: Laura Bispuri
The Falls, dir: Chung Mong-Hong
El Hoyo En La Cerca, dir: Joaquin Del Paso
Amira, dir: Mohamed Diab
A Plein Temps, dir: Eric Gravel
107 Mothers, dir: Peter Kerekes
Vera Dreams Of The Sea, dir: Kaltrina Krasniqi
White Building, dir: Kavich Neang
Anatomy Of Time, dir: Jakrawal Nilthamrong
El Otro Tom, dirs: Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo
El Gran Movimento, dir: Kiro Russo
Once Upon A Time In Calcutta, dir: Aditya Vikram Sengupta
Rhino, dir: Oleg Sentsov
True Things, dir: Harry Wootliff
Inu-Oh, dir: Yuasa Masaaki
HORIZONS SHORT FILMS – COMPETITION
Don’t Get Too Comfortable, dir: Shaima Al Tamimi
Techno, Mama, dir: Saulius Baradinskas
4 AM, dir: Mehdi Fikri
Sandstorm, dir: Seemab Gul
Heltzear, dir: Mikel Gurrea
Los Huesos, dirs: Cristobal Leon, Joaquin Cocina
Hair Tie, Egg, Homework Books, dir: Runxiao Luo
Il Turno, dir: Chiara Marotta
Fall Of The Ibis King, dir: Josh O’Caoimh
New Abnormal, dir: Sorayos Prapapan
La Fête Des Roberts, dir: Léahn Vivier-Chapas
The Last Day, dir: Momi Yamashita
HORIZONS SHORT FILMS – OUT OF COMPETITION
Ato, dir: Barbara Paz
Diario Di Una Passeggiata, dir: Giuseppe Piccioni
BIENNALE COLLEGE – CINEMA
Al Oriente, dir: José Maria Aviles
Nuestros Dias Mas Felices, dir: Sol Berreuzo Pichon-Rivière
La Santa Piccola, dir: Silvia Brunelli
The Cathedral, dir: Ricky D’Ambrose
Mon Pere, Le Diable, dir: Ellie Foumbi
La Tana, dir: Beatrice Baldacci
BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA – VIRTUAL REALITY
Lavrynthos, dirs: Fabito Rychter, Amir Admoni
PREVIOUSLY, 1:57 AM PT: The lineup for the 78th Venice Film Festival is being announced this morning from Rome. Fest director Alberto Barbera will fill in a list that we already know includes Pedro Almodóvar’s in-competition opener Madres Paralelas, starring Penélope Cruz. Out-of-competition titles previously set include David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills from Universal/Blumhouse and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune from Warner Bros/Legendary, both making their world premieres.
Indeed the studios are expected to be back this year after 2020’s fest was light on Hollywood titles. Still, Searchlight’s Nomadland rode its way from the Lido all the way to three Oscars including Best Picture. Venice is a tastemaker when it comes to awards season, having in the past five years hosted the launches of Joker, A Star Is Born, Marriage Story, The Shape Of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Favourite, Roma, La La Land and Arrival, among others. Bong Joon Ho is jury president this year.
While attendance is expected to be increased this year, with more stars present, there’s currently a headache for visitors from the UK who are required to quarantine for five days upon arrival. However, the rule is due to be revisited on July 30.
Outside the films, another topic that may be covered at today’s press conference could be sanitary protocols. Venice last year was the first international gathering for the industry since the beginning of the pandemic, and set a high bar for handling the crisis even before vaccines were widely available. There were temperature checks at every point of access to the main staging area, socially-distanced seating inside the cinemas and an efficient online reservations system.
Italy as of early July had about 55% of its cinemas open at 50% capacity limits. Last week, the government said a so-called “Green Pass” would be required as of August 6 in order to enter cinemas, restaurants and bars among other establishments. The digital or paper certificate will show vaccination status (one dose is sufficient) or a negative Covid test within the past 48 hours. The film festival, which runs September 1-11 on the Lido, will surely have to abide by the same rules.
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