Venice Film Festival lineup: ‘The Power of the Dog,’ ‘Spencer,’ double Penélope Cruz, Oscar Isaac 3x will debut on the Lido
The lineup for the 78th Venice Film Festival, which runs September 1-11, was announced this morning and the Lido will be full of stars, epic battles, intimate dramas and more.
France and Italy have the strongest showings this year, with France showing up with three films in competition: trio of pics in competition comprising Stephane Brize’s Un autre monde, starring Vincent Lindon; Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions, based on an Honoré de Balzac novel and starring a powerhouse cast including Benjamin Voisin, Xavier Dolan, Cécile de France, Gerard Depardieu and Jeanne Balibar; and L’Evenement, from Audrey Diwan. On its home turf, Italy has a whopping five films in competition: America Latina from Damiano D’Innocenzo and Fabio D’Innocenzo, Il Buco from Michelangelo Frammartino, Freaks Out from Gabriele Mainetti, Qui Rido Io by Mario Martone and their biggest title, The Hand of God, Paolo Sorrentino, which is being distributed by Netflix.
Speaking of Netflix, they’ll also bring the new Jane Campion film The Power of the Dog, a 1950’s Montana-set drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons. This isn’t Campion’s first time at the Lido rodeo, she premiered An Angel at My Table, which won the festival’s Grand Jury Prize in 1990, three years before becoming the first female director to win the Cannes Palme d’Or for The Piano.
Pablo Larraín returns with another high-profile biopic of one of the world’s most extraordinary and well-known women, Spencer, his slice of life biopic of Diana, Princess of Wales that stars Kristen Stewart in the titular role. He was previously her with Jackie, his similarly timed film about Jackie Onassis that starred Natalie Portman, who went on to earn an Oscar nomination for her performance.
We’ll be seeing double of Penélope Cruz, who stars in two competition films this year: Parallel Mothers from Pedro Almódovar, which will open the fest, and Official Competition from Gaston Depart and Mariano Cohn, which reunites her with her Pain and Glory co-star Antonio Banderas.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, who just finished up as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival a few weeks ago, will head to Italy with her feature directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, starring Academy Award winner Olivia Colman. The film is based on an Elena Ferrante novel and also stars Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard and Alba Rohrwacher.
Previously announced out of competition films included the world premieres of Denis Villeneuve sci-fi extravaganza Dune, based on the Frank Herbert novels and the latest installment of the Halloween series, Halloween Kills, where star Jamie Lee Curtis will receive a lifetime achievement award. Both film are due for release in October. Two more October releases will see their films debut out of competition here: Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, starring Thomasin McKenzie, Matt Smith and Anya Taylor-Joy as well as Ridley Scott’s medieval epic The Last Duel, set during France’s Hundred Years War, starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck.
Like Cannes with its new section this year, Cannes Premieres, Venice revealed a new section, Horizons Extra, dedicated to works of all genres with no length constraints, beyond being more than an hour long. That lineup includes opening film Land of Dreams from Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari as well as La Ragazza Ha Volato from Wilma Labate.
Five episodes of Hagai Levi’s remake of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage will premiere in the out of competition TV series section. The HBO limited series reunites Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year). Isaac shows up for a third time, in the competition entry The Card Counter from Paul Schrader, which also stars Tiffany Haddish, Willem Dafoe and Tye Sheridan.
One big surprise this morning was the omission of Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, starring Ana de Armas and based on the Marilyn Monroe biography by Joyce Carol Oates.
As star-studded as the films themselves, Oscar-winning Parasite director Bong Joon Ho will preside over the main jury, which also includes Oscar winner Chloé Zhao whose Best Picture winner Nomadland launched from Venice last year; French actress Virginie Efira, who most recently starred in Paul Verhoeven’s Cannes entry Benedetta; the U.K.’s Cynthia Erivo, who plays Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s Genius series; Canadian actor and producer Sarah Gadon (BAFTA winner Rocks); Italian director Saverio Costanzo and Romanian helmer Alexander Nanau (Collective).
The 78th edition of Venice will run September 1-11. Here is the full lineup.
COMPETITION
“Parallel Mothers,” Pedro Almodovar (Spain)
“Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” Ana Lily Amirpour (U.S.)
“Un Autre Monde,” Stephane Brizé (France)
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion (New Zealand, Australia)
“America Latina,” Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo (Italy, France)
“L’Evenement,” Audrey Diwan (France)
“Official Competition,” Gaston Depart, Mariano Cohn (Spain, Argentina)
“Il Buco,” Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy, France, Germany)
“Sundown,” Michel Franco” (Mexico, France, Sweden)
“Lost Illusions,” Xavier Giannoli (France)
“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal (Greece, U.S., U.K., Israel)
“Spencer,” Pablo Larrain (Germany, U.K.)
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti (Italy, Belgium)
“Qui Rido Io,” Mario Martone (Italy, Spain)
“On The Job: The Missing 8,” Eric Matti (Philippines)
“Leave No Traces,” Jan P. Matuszyski (Poland, France, Czech Republic)
“Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” Yuriy Borisov (Russia, Estonia, France)
“The Card Counter,” Paul Schrader (U.S., U.K., China)
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
“Reflection,” Valentin Vasyanovych (Ukraine)
“La Caja,” Lorenzo Vigas (Mexico, U.S.)
OUT OF COMPETITION – FICTION
“Il Bambino Nascosto,” Roberto Andò (Italy) – CLOSING FILM
“Les Choses Humaines,” Yvan Attal (France)
“Ariaferma,” Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy, Switzerland)
“Halloween Kills,” David Gordon Green (U.S.)
“La Scuola Cattolica,” Stefano Mordini (Italy)
“Old Henry,” Potsy Ponciroli (U.S.)
“The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott (U.S., U.K.)
“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve (U.S., Hungary, Jordan, UAE, Norway, Canada)
“Last Night in Soho,” Edgar Wright (U.K.)
OUT OF COMPETITION – NON-FICTION
“Life of Crime 1984-2020,” Jon Albert (U.S.)
“Tranchées,” Loup Bureau (France)
“Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo,” Augusto Contento (France, Italy)
“Republic of Silence,” Diana El Jeiroudi (Germany, France, Syria, Qatar)
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song,” Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine (U.S.)
“DeAndré#Deandré Storia di un Impiegato,” Roberta Lena (Italy)
“Django & Django,” Luca Rea (Italy)
“Ezio Bosso. Le Cose Che Restano,” Giorgio Verdelli (Italy)
OUT OF COMPETITION – TV SERIES
“Scenes From a Marriage” (episodes 1-5), Hagai Levi (U.S.)
HORIZONS
“Les Promesses,” Thomas Kruithof (France) OPENING FILM
“Atlantide,” Yuri Ancarani (Italy, France, U.S., Qatar)
“Miracle” Bogdan George Apetri (Romania Czech Republic, Lettonia)
“Pilgrims,” Laurynas Bareisa (Lithuania)
“The Peackock’s Paradise,” Laura Bispuri (Italy, Germany)
“The Falls,” Chung Mong-Hong (Taiwan)
“El Hoyo En La Cerca,” Joachin Del Paso (Mexico, Poland)
“Amira,” Mohamed Diab (Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia)
“A Plein Temps,” Eric Gravel (France)
“107 Mothers,” Peter Kerkekes (Republic of Slovenia, Czech Republic, Ukraine)
“Vera Dreams of the Sea,” Kaltrina Krasniqi (Albania, North Macedonia)
“White Building,” Kavich Neang (Cambodia, France, China, Qatar)
“Anatomy of Time,” Jakrawal Nilthamrong (Thailand, France, Netherlands, Singapore, Germany)
“El Otro Tom,” Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo (Mexico, U.S.)
“El Gran Movimiento,” Kiro Russo (Bolivia, France, Qatar, Switzerland)
“Once Upon a Time in Calcutta,” Adita Vikram Sengupta (India, France, Norway)
“Rhino,” Oleg Sentsov (Ukraine, Poland, Germany)
“True Things,” Harry Wootliff (U.K.)
“Inu-Oh,” Yuasa Masaaki (Japan, China)
HORIZONS EXTRA
“Land of Dreams,” Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari (U.S., Germany, Qatar) — Opening Film
“Costa Brava,” Mounia Akl (Lebanon, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Qatar)
“Mama, I’m Home,” Vladimir Bitokov (Russia)
“Ma Nuit,” Antoinette Boulot (France, Belgium)
“La Ragazza Ha Volato,” Wilma Labate (Italy, Slovenia)
“7 Prisoners,” Alexandre Moratto (Brazil)
“The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,” Teemu Nikki (Finland)
“La Macchina Delle Immagini di Alfredo C,” Roland Sejko (Italy)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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