In 2020, the Venice Film Festival was just one of many events to be affected by the pandemic, though it managed to avoid cancelation in favor of a “more restrained format” under strict COVID protocols. This year, however, the availability of vaccines seems to have allowed the highly-anticipated festival to be back and as exciting as ever. Headlined by some major filmmaker names that include Jane Campion, Denis Villeneuve, Ridley Scott, Edgar Wright, and Pedro Almodovar, the 78th annual Venice Film Festival will take place from September 1-11 and is sure to have something for every type of film fanatic out there.
The most popular highlight is probably Villeneuve’s upcoming epic Dune, the latest and most ambitious attempt to adapt Frank Herbert’s challenging novel. Also premiering will be The Last Duel, Ridley Scott’s return to historical epics starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, and Ben Affleck (which we recently got an extended peek at). Not to be outdone, Edgar Wright is going completely off-script from what we tend to expect from the comedic and action-junkie filmmaker with Last Night in Soho, billed as a psychological-thriller and also set for its world premiere at Venice.
Other notables include actor Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut with The Lost Daughter, the Kristen Stewart-starring Princess Diana biopic titled Spencer (from Pablo Larrain, who directed the excellent Jackie), and also the HBO limited series Scenes From a Marriage, starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac (who has no less than three separate entries in this year’s festival).
Check out the full line-up of hopefuls below.
Competition
Parallel Mothers | Pedro Almodovar | Spain
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon | Ana Lily Amirpour | United States
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, United States, U.K., Israel
Spencer | Pablo Lorrain | Germany, United States
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 | United States, United Kingdom, China
The Hand of God | Paolo Sorrentino | Italy
Reflection | Valentin Vasyanovych | Ukraine
La Caja | Lorenzo Vigas | Mexico, United States
Out of Competition
Il Bambino Nascosto | Roberto Andò | Italy
Les Choses Humaines | Yvan Attal | France
Ariaferma | Leonardo Di Costanzo | Italy, Switzerland
Halloween Kills | David Gordon Green | United States
La Scuola Cattolica | Stefano Mordini | Italy
Old Henry | Potsy Ponciroli | United States
The Last Duel | Ridley Scott | United States, United Kingdom
Dune | Denis Villeneuve | United States, Hungary, Jordan, UAE, Norway, Canada
Last Night in Soho | Edgar Wright | United Kingdom
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