The organizers of the 81st Venice Film Festival announced the full program with the event scheduled to run from August 28th to September 7th.
THE MAIN COMPETITION features films by Todd Phillips (“Joker: Folie à Deux”), Pablo Larraín (“Maria”), Pedro Almodóvar (“The Room Next Door”), Justin Kurzel (“Silent Brotherhood”), as well as new works by Dea Kulumbegashvili (“April”) and Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”). The festival promises a vibrant reception and the presence of the most famous Hollywood stars on the red carpet: Tilda Swinton, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Jude Law, and other artists star in the competition films.
The 81st Venice Film Festival will open with the sequel to the 1988 hit “Beetlejuice” by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe.
The out-of-competition program also includes “Broken Fury” and “Cloud” by Japanese filmmakers Takeshi Kitano and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and the comedy “Finale” by French filmmaker Claude Lelouch.
The comedy action film “Wolves” by John Watts will feature Brad Pitt and George Clooney. The festival will close with another out-of-competition film, “L’Orto Americano” by director Giuseppe (Pup) Avati.
The film festival, known as a springboard to the Oscars, is once again hosting Todd Phillips and his “Joker,” which won the Golden Lion in 2019. The sequel “Folie à Deux,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, is also vying for the top prize.
Luca Guadagnino will bring to the festival a film adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel. “Queer” stars Daniel Craig as an American expatriate with a heroin addiction in Mexico. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar presents “The Room Next Door,” featuring Oscar winners Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.
Additionally, Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton will be present at the Venice Immersive program, narrating the VR documentary “Impulse: Playing with Reality,” premiering at the Venice Immersive program in 2024. This is her second collaboration with the “Playing with Reality” collection, following her narration of the 2021 VR film “Goliath.”
The documentary is a co-production of Floréal and France Télévisions, and was supported by various organizations including the Tides Foundation’s Unity Charitable Fund, France Télévisions, CNC, Agog, and Meta VR for Good.
THE SERIES PROGRAM will feature Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ project “Disclaimer” starring Cate Blanchett, who plays a journalist who finds herself the subject of a journalistic story. Joe Wright will bring the story of Benito Mussolini’s rise to power with “M. Son of the Century.” The “Horizons” program will include Alexandros Avranas’ drama “Silent Life,” starring Chulpan Khamatova and Grigory Dobrygin.
THE MAIN COMPETITION JURY will be chaired by French actress Isabelle Huppert. The films will also be judged by directors Agnieszka Holland, James Gray, Andrew Haigh, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Abderrahmane Sissako, Giuseppe Tornatore, Julia von Heinz, and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.
French filmmakers are also included in the competition program: director Emmanuel Mouret with the comedy “Three Friends,” Ludovic and Zoran Bukerma with the coming-of-age drama “Their Children After Them,” sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin with the drama “Silent Son” set in the 1950s and starring Vincent Lindon (“Titan”). Claude Lelouch will present the comedy “Finale” out of competition, about a man who embarks on the most important journey of his life.
The Italian segment is represented by five diverse films, besides Luca Guadagnino. Gianni Amelio will bring “Battlefield” about World War I. Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza will present “Sicilian Letter” about the “last godfather,” “Cosa Nostra” boss Matteo Messina Denaro. Director Giulia Louise Steigerwalt will showcase “Diva Futura” about a Roman porn studio from the 1980s, which produced politician Ilona Staller (Cicciolina).
Masterclasses and Conversations program
Schedule of Masterclasses and Conversations at the Match Point Arena at the Lido (Lungomare Marconi, corner via Emo, in front of the Hotel Exclesior), for accredited persons, no reservation required:
Thursday 29 August
4.30 pm Masterclass with Sigourney Weaver (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement), led by Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, film critic – Livestream http://www.labiennale.org
Saturday 31 August
11.00 am Conversation between Nicola Piovani and Cristina Comencini, Il Cinema cambia Musica, led by Stéphan Lerouge, expert in music for cinema and curator of the collection Ecoutez le cinéma!
4.30 pm Conversation between Claude Lelouch (Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award) and Barbara Pravi, Music as an actor’s director, led by Stéphan Lerouge, expert in film music and curator of the collection Ecoutez le cinéma!
Sunday 1 September
10.30 am Conversation between Richard Gere and Mario Cordova, The connection(s) between a movie star and creative collaborators: Richard Gere on acting, screenwriting, lighting, film scoring… and dubbing, led by Stéphan Lerouge, expert in music for the cinema and curator of the collection Ecoutez le cinéma!
3.30 pm Masterclass with Peter Weir (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement), led by Paolo Bertolin, film critic – Livestream http://www.labiennale.org
Monday 2 September
10.00 am Masterclass with Ethan Hawke, led by Emanuele Rauco, film critic -Livestream http://www.labiennale.org
Friday 6 September
4.00 pm Masterclass with Pupi Avati, led by Angela Prudenzi, film critic – Livestream http://www.labiennale.org
The festival poster depicts an elephant. It is stepping heavily through the waters of the lagoon, and on its back sits a girl in a red dress. A real elephant could be seen on the narrow Venetian streets during the 1981 Biennale. The image also evokes the liners that could still be seen in the lagoon not long ago. Every morning, they brought thousands of day-trippers and felt like elephants in a china shop. Venetians actively protested against the entry of large ships into the city’s waters and finally achieved their goal.
Mattotti explains his unusual choice: “What is an elephant doing in the Lagoon? It’s an unexpected image, but it takes us back to 1981, when an elephant wandered through Venice during a famous Biennale Carnival. This elephant now crosses the Lagoon, symbolizing the journey into fantasy, mystery, and magic that cinema offers. It embodies the history of cinema itself: a celebration, a parade, a spectacle.”
He continues: “This specially-coloured elephant also evokes the exotic, the faraway, the East, a look towards other civilizations and cultures. For 92 years, the Venice Mostra has brought together different worlds, languages, and fantasies, all converging in the Lagoon. This elephant, facing the East, welcomes everyone.”
The author of the poster is Italian artist, screenwriter, director, and comic book author Lorenzo Mattotti. His career spans comics, illustration, animation, and film. He is known for his distinctive style and his ability to blend storytelling with visual artistry. His works have been exhibited in prestigious venues worldwide and have earned him numerous awards. His animated film “The Famous Invasion of the Bears in Sicily” competed in the “Un Certain Regard” section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.