The American frontier drama “The World to Come,” the Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren comedy-drama “The Duke,” Gia Coppola’s “Mainstream,” and the Shia LaBeouf and Vanessa Kirby drama “Pieces of a Woman” are among the films set to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September, the first major event of its kind since the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of large gatherings worldwide, organizers said Tuesday.
The selections for the 77th edition, which launches Sept. 2 on the Venice Lido, are more global and less packed with star-studded Hollywood features than in years past as a result of the ongoing virus outbreak, festival director Alberto Barbera acknowledged.
“This year, to borrow Bob Dylan’s words, the program contains multitudes: of movies, of genres, of points of view,” Barbera said at a Tuesday morning news conference. “There will be auteur films, comedies, documentaries, horror flicks, gangster movies, and so on.”
Films premiering in competition include Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland;” Nicole Garcia’s “Lovers,” with Stacy Martin; Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Miss Marx,” with Romola Garai as Karl Marx’s daughter Eleanor; and Mona Fastvold’s “The World to Come,” about two women who forge a connection in isolation in the mid-19th century. Based on Jim Shepard’s short story, it also stars Kirby, best known for playing Princess Margaret in “The Crown,” Katherine Waterston and Casey Affleck.
Barbera noted that almost half of the competition film selections this year are directed by women. The festival has had notoriously poor gender parity in the past.
The films this year, Barbera said, “were selected exclusively on the basis of their quality and not as a result of gender protocols. This is an unprecedented percentile which we hope augurs well for a future cinema that is free of any sort of prejudice and discrimination.”
Competition films hail from Japan (Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Wife of a Spy”), Russia (Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Dear Comrades”) Iran (Majid Majidi’s “Sun Child”), Poland (Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert’s “Never Gonna Snow Again”) and Israel (Amos Gitai’s “Laila in Haifa”).
Cate Blanchett will be presiding over the main competition jury alongside filmmakers Joanna Hogg, Veronika Franz, Christian Petzold and Cristi Puiu, actor Ludivine Sagnier and writer Nicola Lagioia. They will together decide on the coveted Golden Lion award, which last went to Todd Phillips’ “Joker.”
Out-of-competition selections include Luca Guadagnino’s Salvatore Ferragamo documentary “The Shoemaker of Dreams,” Nathan Grossman’s “Greta,” about climate activist Greta Thunberg and Alex Gibney’s “Crazy, Not Insane,” about a psychiatrist who works with serial killers like Ted Bundy.
Gia Coppola’s “Mainstream,” with Andrew Garfield and Maya Hawke, will debut in the Horizons section, which spotlights newcomers.
The festival will implement various modifications due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19, including a slightly slimmed-down official competition, a reduced number of sections and the addition of two outdoor screening venues, in addition to its traditional venues. Organizers said they will also be adhering to safety measures established by local authorities.
“Until a short while ago, even the certainty of maintaining the late-summer appointment with Venice’s Festival was anything but a given,” Barbera said.
And it will be a decidedly different festival than in the past couple of years, where A-List stars from Brad Pitt to Lady Gaga have put on their finest for red carpet premieres. Netflix, which had a major presence last year with “Marriage Story,” “The Laundromat” and “The King,” is also absent this year.
“A few spectacular movies will be missing, blocked by the lockdown which still affects the programming of the most-awaited Hollywood releases. A few cast members of the invited movies won’t be able to attend because of the ongoing limitations on intercontinental travel,” Barbera said.
Attendees are also likely to be mostly European this year due to continuing travel restrictions and quarantine requirements. Italy was an early epicenter of the virus outbreak.
But the show will go on.
“The decision to hold the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival is experienced like a sign of confidence in — dnd concrete support of — the world of film and the audiovisual industry,” Barbera said.
The festival will open with an Italian film for the first time in over a decade: the marital drama “The Ties,” from director Daniele Luchetti and starring Alba Rohrwacher will premiere on the Lido on Sept. 2. It runs through Sept. 12.
COVID-19 has massively disrupted the film festival circuit, a major launching pad not only for awards contenders but also for films looking for buzz and distribution. Cannes and Telluride were cancelled and others like Venice and the Toronto International Film Festival have had to get creative and scale back where possible in order to proceed. Some have even formed alliances to benefit all instead of fighting for exclusive, high-profile premieres. Case in point, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, will premiere across the major fall film festivals — Venice, Toronto, Telluride and New York.
VENEZIA 77 COMPETITION
An international competition comprising a maximum of 21 feature-length films, presented as world premieres
IN BETWEEN DYING
Director Hilal Baydarov
Main Cast Orkhan Iskandarli, Rana Asgarova, Maryam Naghiyeva, Murvat Abdulazizov, Kamran Huseynov, Samir Abbasov / Azerbaijan, USA / 88’ (minutes)
LE SORELLE MACALUSO
Director Emma Dante
Main Cast Viola Pusateri, Eleonora De Luca, Simona Malato, Susanna Piraino, Serena Barone, Maria Rosaria Alati , Anita Pomario, Donatella Finocchiaro / Italy / 94’
THE WORLD TO COME
Director Mona Fastvold
Main Cast Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, Casey Affleck / USA / 98’
NUEVO ORDEN
Director Michel Franco
Main Cast Naián González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica Del Carmen, Fernando Cuautle, Darío Yazbek, Eligio Meléndez / Mexico, France / 88’
AMANTS (LOVERS)
Director Nicole Garcia
Main Cast Pierre Niney, Stacy Martin, Benoît Magimel / France / 102’
LAILA IN HAIFA
Director Amos Gitai
Main Cast Maria Zreik, Khawla Ibraheem, Bahira Ablassi, Naama Preis, Tsahi Halevi, Makram J. Khoury / Israel, France / 99’
UND MORGEN DIE GANZE WELT
Director Julia von Heinz
Main Cast Mala Emde, Noah Saavedra, Tonio Schneider, Luisa-Céline Gaffron, Andreas Lust / Germany, France / 101’
DOROGIE TOVARISCHI (DEAR COMRADES)
Director Andrei Konchalovsky
Main Cast Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, Sergei Erlish / Russia / 116’
SPY NO TSUMA (WIFE OF A SPY)
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Main Cast Yu Aoi, Issey Takahashi / Japan / 116’
KHORSHID (SUN CHILDREN)
Director Majid Majidi
Main Cast Ali Nasirian, Javad Ezzati, Tannaz Tabatabaie, Rouhollah Zamani, Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Mousavi Fard, Shamila Shirzad / Iran / 99’
PIECES OF A WOMAN
Director Kornél Mundruczó
Main Cast Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Jimmie Fails, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie / Canada, Hungary / 115’
MISS MARX
Director Susanna Nicchiarelli
Main Cast Romola Garai, Patrick Kennedy, John Gordon Sinclair, Felicity Montagu, Karina Fernandez, Oliver Chris, Philip Gröning / Italy, Belgium / 107’
PADRENOSTRO
Director Claudio Noce
Main Cast Pierfrancesco Favino, Mattia Garaci, Barbara Ronchi, Francesco Gheghi, Francesco Colella, Antonio Gerardi / Italy / 120’
NOTTURNO
Director Gianfranco Rosi
Italy, France, Germany / 100’
ŚNIEGU JUŻ NIGDY NIE BĘDZIE (NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN)
Director Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert
Main Cast Alec Utgoff, Maja Ostaszewska, Agata Kulesza, Weronika Rosati, Katarzyna Figura, Andrzej Chyra / Poland, Germany / 113’
THE DISCIPLE
Director Chaitanya Tamhane
Main Cast Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, Kiran Yadnyopavit / India / 127’
QUO VADIS, AIDA?
Director Jasmila Zbanic
Main Cast Jasna Ðuričić, Izudin Bajrović, Boris Ler, Dino Bajrović, Boris Isaković / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Norway / 101’
NOMADLAND
Director Chloé Zhao
Main Cast Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Charlene Swankie / USA / 108’
OUT OF COMPETITION
FICTION
MANDIBULES
Director Quentin Dupieux
Main Cast David Marsais, Grégoire Ludig, Adèle Exarchopoulos, India Hair, Roméo Elvis, Coralie Russier / France, Belgium / 77’
DI YI LU XIANG (LOVE AFTER LOVE)
Director Ann Hui
Main Cast Sandra Ma, Faye Yu Eddie Peng, Ning Chang, Wei Fan, Isabella Leong / China / 144’
LACCI
Director Daniele Luchetti
Main Cast Alba Rohrwacher, Luigi Lo Cascio, Laura Morante, Silvio Orlando, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Adriano Giannini, Linda Caridi / Italy / 100’
ASSANDIRA
Director Salvatore Mereu
Main Cast Gavino Ledda, Anna Koenig, Marco Zucca, Corrado Giannetti / Italy
THE DUKE
Director Roger Michell
Main Cast Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Matthew Goode, Anna Maxwell Martin / United Kingdom / 96’
LASCIAMI ANDARE
Director Stefano Mordini
Main Cast Stefano Accorsi, Valeria Golino, Maya Sansa, Serena Rossi, Antonia Truppo, Lino Musella / Italy / 98’
NAK WON EUI BAM (NIGHT IN PARADISE)
Director Hoon-jung Park
Main Cast Tae-goo Eom, Yeo-been Jeon, Seoung-won Cha, Ki-young Lee, Ho-san Park / South Korea / 131’
MOSQUITO STATE
Director Filip Jan Rymsza
Main Cast Beau Knapp, Charlotte Vega, Jack Kesy, Olivier Martinez / Poland / 100’
OUT OF COMPETITION
NON FICTION
SPORTIN’ LIFE
Director Abel Ferrara
Main Cast Abel Ferrara, Willem Dafoe, Cristina Chiriac, Anna Ferrara, Paul Hipp, Joe Delia / Italia / 65’
CRAZY NOT INSANE
Director Alex Gibney
117’
GRETA
Director Nathan Grossman
Main Cast Greta Thunberg / Svezia / 97’
SALVATORE – SHOEMAKER OF DREAMS
Director Luca Guadagnino
120’
FINAL ACCOUNT
Director Luke Holland
United Kingdom / 90’
LA VERITÀ SU LA DOLCE VITA
Director Giuseppe Pedersoli
Italy / 83’
MOLECOLE
Director Andrea Segre
68’
NARCISO EM FÉRIAS
Director Renato Terra, Ricardo Calil
Main Cast Caetano Veloso / Brazil / 84’
PAOLO CONTE, VIA CON ME
Director Giorgio Verdelli
Main Cast Luca Zingaretti, Roberto Benigni, Caterina Caselli, Isabella Rossellini, Francesco De Gregori, Patrice Leconte / Italy / 100’
HOPPER / WELLES
Director Orson Welles
Main Cast Dennis Hopper, Orson Welles / USA / 130’
CITY HALL
Director Frederick Wiseman
USA / 272’
OUT OF COMPETITION
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
30 MONEDAS – EPISODE 1
Director Álex de la Iglesia
Main Cast Eduard Fernández, Megan Montaner, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Macarena Gómez, Pepón Nieto, Manolo Solo / Spain / 78’
PRINCESSE EUROPE
Director Camille Lotteau
Main Cast Bernard-Henri Lévy / France / 108’
OMELIA CONTADINA
Director Alice Rohrwacher
Main Cast Luciano Vergaro, Dario Sforza, Iris Pulvano, Emanuele La Barbera, Elisa Cortese, and the farm workers of the Altopiano dell’Alfina / Italy, France / 9’
ORIZZONTI COMPETITION
An international competition dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema.
LA TROISIÈME GUERRE
Director Giovanni Aloi
Main Cast Anthony Bajon, Karim Leklou, Leïla Bekhti / France / 92’
MEEL PATTHAR (MILESTONE)
Director Ivan Ayr
Main Cast Suvinder Vicky, Lakshvir Saran / India / 98’
DASHTE KHAMOUSH (THE WASTELAND)
Director Ahmad Bahrami
Main Cast Ali Bagheri, Farrokh Nemati, Majid Farhang, Mahdieh Nassaj, Touraj Alvand / Iran / 102’
THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
Director Kaouther Ben Hania
Main Cast Yahya Mahayni, Dea Liane, Monica Bellucci, Koen de Bouw, Darina Al Joundi, Christian Vadim / Tunisia, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden / 140’
I PREDATORI
Director Pietro Castellitto
Main Cast Massimo Popolizio, Manuela Mandracchia, Pietro Castellitto, Giorgio Montanini, Dario Cassini, Anita Caprioli / Italy / 109’
MAINSTREAM
Director Gia Coppola
Main Cast Andrew Garfield, Maya Hawke, Nat Wolff, Jason Schwartzman / USA / 94’
LAHI, HAYOP (GENUS PAN)
Director Lav Diaz
Main Cast Bart Guingona, DMs Boongaling, Nanding Josef, Hazel Orencio, Joel Saracho, Noel Sto. Domingo / Philippines / 150’
ZANKA CONTACT
Director Ismaël el Iraki
Main Cast Khansa Batma, Ahmed Hammoud, Saïd Bey, Abderrahmane Oubihem, Mourad Zaoui / France, Morocco, Belgium / 125’
LA NUIT DES ROIS
Director Philippe Lacôte
Main Cast Koné Bakary, Steve Tientcheu, Rasmané Ouédraogo, Issaka Sawadogo, Digbeu Jean Cyrille, Abdoul Karim Konaté / Ivory Coast, France, Canada / 92’
THE FURNACE
Director Roderick MacKay
Main Cast Ahmed Malek, David Wenham / Australia / 116’
JENAYAT-E BI DEGHAT (CARELESS CRIME)
Director Shahram Mokri
Main Cast Babak Karimi, Razieh Mansouri, Abolfazl Kahani, Mohammad Sareban, Adel Yaraghi, Mahmoud Behraznia / Iran / 139’
GAZA MON AMOUR
Director Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Main Cast Salim Daw, Hiam Abbass, Maisa Abd Elhadi, George Iskandar, Hitham Al Omai, Manal Awad / Palestine, France, Germany, Portugal, Qatar / 87’
MILA (APPLES)
Director Christos Nikou
Main Cast Aris Servetalis, Sofia Georgovasili / Greece, Poland, Slovenia / 90’
SELVA TRÁGICA
Director Yulene Olaizola
Main Cast Indira Andrewin, Gilberto Barraza, Mariano Tun Xool, Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez, Eligio Meléndez / Mexico, France, Colombia / 96’
GUERRA E PACE
Director Martina Parenti, Massimo D’Anolfi
Italy, Switzerland / 128’
NOWHERE SPECIAL
Director Uberto Pasolini
Main Cast James Norton, Daniel Lamont / Italy, Romania, United Kingdom / 96’
LISTEN
Director Ana Rocha de Sousa
Main Cast Lúcia Moniz, Sophia Myles, Ruben Garcia, Maisie Sly, Kiran Sonia Sawar, James Felner / United Kingdom, Portugal / 73’
BU ZHI BU XIU (THE BEST IS YET TO COME)
Director Jing Wang
Main Cast Bai Ke, Miao Miao, Song Wenzhang, Fu Kesi, Jia Zhangke, Qin Hailu, Song Yang / China / 114’
ZHELTAYA KOSHKA (YELLOW CAT)
Director Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Main Cast Azamat Nigmanov, Kamila Nugmanova, Sanjar Madi, Yerzhan Zhamankulov, Yerken Gubashev, Nurbek Mukushev / Kazakhstan, France / 90’
ORIZZONTI SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
NATTÅGET (THE NIGHT TRAIN)
Director Jerry Carlsson
15’
THE SHIFT
Director Laura Carreira
9’
WORKSHOP
Director Judah Finnigan
16’
SOGNI AL CAMPO
Director Magda Guidi, Mara Cerri
9’
WAS WAHRSCHEINLICH PASSIERT WÄRE, WÄRE ICH NICHT ZUHAUSE GEBLIEBEN
Director Willy Hans
20’
DAS SPIEL (THE GAME)
Director Roman Hodel
17’
MIEGAMASIS RAJONAS (PLACES)
Director Vytautas Katkus
12’
ANITA
Director Sushma Khadepaun
17’
À FLEUR DE PEAU
Director Meriem Mesraoua
15’
ENTRE TÚ Y MILAGROS
Director Mariana Saffon
20’
BEING MY MOM
Director Jasmine Trinca
12’
MÂY NHU’NG KHÔNG MU’A (LIVE IN CLOUD CUCKOO LAND)
Director Nghia Vu Minh, Thy Pham Hoang Minh
19’
ORIZZONTI SHORT FILMS OUT OF COMPETITION
SÌ
Director Luca Ferri
19’
THE RETURN OF TRAGEDY
Director Bertrand Mandico
20’
BIENNALE COLLEGE CINEMA
An advanced training workshop for the development and production of four micro-budget works, open to teams of directors and producers from around the world.
EL ARTE DE VOLVER
Director Pedro Collantes
Main Cast Macarena García, Nacho Sánchez, Ingrid García-Jonsson, Mireia Oriol, Luka Peros, Lucía Juárez / Spain / 91’
FUCKING WITH NOBODY
Director Hannaleena Hauru
Main Cast Hannaleena Hauru, Lasse Poser, Samuel Kujala, Pietu Wikström, Sara Melleri, Hanna-Kaisa Tiainen / Finland / 95’
