With actors striking across the United States, there were concerns about whether the Fall’s most important film festivals would go on as planned, with Venice arguably topping the list. Just four days ago, Luca Guadagnino pulled his electrifying upcoming release Challengers from the festival’s line-up, given the likely absence of his cast (composed of Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor) to promote the film, and pushed its release from September to April 2024.
Regardless, it looks like the festival held on to a good chunk of its program, with some household names taking their new films to the stunning Italian city for their exclusive premieres. The list includes David Fincher’s Netflix thriller The Killer with Michael Fassbender, Michael Mann’s Ferrari biopic with Adam Driver, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla about Priscilla Presley, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s surprise release Evil Does Not Exist, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Emma Stone-led Poor Things, Ava DuVernay’s Origin, and Wes Anderson’s short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar which will be showing out of competition. The presence of films by Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, who have both been involved in sexual abuse scandals, is once again attracting major backlash.
Official selection: In competition
Adagio; dir. Stefano Sollima
The Beast; dir. Bertrand Bonello
Io Capitano; dir. Matteo Garrone
Comandante; dir. Edoardo de Angelis
El Conde; dir. Pablo Larraín
Die Theorie von Allem; dir. Timm Kröger
Dogman; dir. Luc Besson
Enea; dir. Pietro Castellitto
Evil Does Not Exist; dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Ferrari; dir. Michael Mann
Finalmente L’Alba; dir. Saverio Costanzo
Green Border; dir. Agnieszka Holland
Holly; dir. Fien Troch
Hors-Saison; dir. Stéphane Brizé
The Killer; dir. David Fincher
Lubo; dir. Giorgio Diritti
The Promised Land; dir. Nikolaj Arcel
Maestro; dir. Bradley Cooper
Memory; dir. Michel Franco
Origin; dir. Ava DuVernay
Poor Things; dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Priscilla; dir. Sofia Coppola
Woman Of; dir. Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert
Orizzonti section (Horizons)
A Cielo Abierto, dirs. Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga
El Paraiso, dir. Enrico Maria Artale
Behind the Mountains, dir. Mohamed Ben Attia
The Red Suitcase, dir. Fidel Devkota
Tatami, dirs. Guy Nattiv, Zar Amir Ebrahimi
Paradise Is Burning, dir. Mika Gustafson
The Featherweight, dir. Robert Kolodny
Invelle, dir. Simone Massi
Hesitation Wound, dir. Selman Nacar
Heartless, dirs. Nara Normande, Tiao
Una Sterminata Domenica, dir. Alain Perroni
City of Wind, dir. Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
Explanation for Everything, dir. Gabor Reisz
Gasoline Rainbow, dirs. Bill Ross, Turner Ross
En Attendant la Nuit, dir. Céline Rouzet
Housekeeping for Beginners, dir. Goran Stolevski
Shadow of Fire, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto
Dormitory, dir. Nehir Tuna
Orizzonti extra
Bota Jone, dir. Luana Bajrami
Forever Forever, dir. Anna Buryachkova
The Rescue, dir. Daniela Goggi
In the Land of Saints and Sinners, dir. Robert Lorenz
Day of the Fight, dir. Jack Huston
Felicita, dir. Micaela Ramazzotti
Pet Shop Boys, dir. Olmo Schnabel
Stolen, dir. Karan Tejpal
L’Homme d’Argile, dir. Anais Tellenne
Out of Competition: Series
D’Argent et de Sang (episodes 1-12), dirs. Xavier Giannoli, Frederic Planchon
I Know Your Soul (episodes 1&2), dirs. Alen Drljevic, Nermin Hamzagic
Out of Competition: Non-fiction
Hollywoodgate, dir. Ibrahim Nash’at
Amor, dir. Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, dir. Neo Sora
Frente a Guernica (Version Integrale), dirs. Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi
Enzo Jannacci Vengo Anch’io, dir. Giorgio Verdelli
Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros, dir. Frederick Wiseman
Out of Competition: Fiction
Aggro Dr1ft; dir. Harmony Korine
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial; dir. William Friedkin
Coup de Chance, dir. Woody Allen
Daaaaaali!; dir. Quentin Dupieux
Hit Man; dir. Richard Linklater
L’ordine del Tempo; dir. Liliana Cavani
Making Of; dir. Cédric Kahn
The Penitent; dir. Luca Barbareschi
The Palace; dir. Roman Polanski
Society of the Snow; dir. J.A. Bayona
Snow Leopard. dir: Pema Tseden
Vivants; dir. Alix Delaporte
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, dir. Wes Anderson
The 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival will take place between Aug. 30 and Sept. 9. If the SAG-AFTRA strike, which has been underway since July 14, persists, actors represented by the labor union, and who would be promoting studio and streamer films, will not be able to attend the festival, including names like Bradley Cooper, Adam Driver, Michael Fassbender, and more. The festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera said, at a press conference for the festival that took place Tuesday, July 25, that he hopes “actors who are in independent [U.S.] productions – and there are many in Venice – will be coming.”
