The lineup for the 80th Venice International Film Festival has been unveiled, with the likes of David Fincher, Michael Mann, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, and Bradley Cooper all competing for the Golden Lion, one of the most coveted prizes in cinema.
Films in the main competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival include some major ones, many of which are hoping to be hits at the Oscars as well: Fincher is bringing thriller The Killer, while Lanthimos has sci-fi dramedy Poor Things. DuVernay has the drama Origin, while both Mann and Cooper have biopics in Ferrari (about Enzo Ferrari) and Maestro (Cooper also plays Leonard Bernstein). You can see the full lineup on the festival’s official website.
The jury for the main competition includes president Damien Chazelle, whose La La Land opened the 2016 Venice Film Festival; Jane Campion, who has three Golden Lion nominations to her credit; and Martin McDonagh, who has two screenplay honors from the fest. They, along with a selection of peers, will determine which of the nearly two dozen films in competition will take home the Golden Lion.
The out-of-competition lineup is also brimming with major players, with Woody Allen (Coup de Chance), Wes Anderson (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), William Friedkin (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial), Richard Linklater (Hit Man), and Roman Polanski (The Palace) all having films shown, despite controversies surrounding some of these men. Restorations for films such as Friedkin’s The Exorcist, Days of Heaven, Jungle Holocaust, and One from the Heart, will screen in competition as part of the Venice Classics series.
Normally a star-studded event, this year’s Venice Film Festival will likely be a bit dimmer this year as the SAG-AFTRA strike is still quite fresh and not looking to end anytime soon.
The 80th Venice International Film Festival runs from August 30th to September 9th, unofficially kicking off awards season. It is remarkably rare for a film to win both the Golden Lion and the Best Picture Oscar, with only Hamlet, The Shape of Water, and Nomadland doing so.
Which film(s) are you looking forward to out of the entire Venice Film Festival lineup? How do you think Allen and Polanski will be received? Let us know in the comments below!