78th Venice Film Festival Official Selection

Running from September 1st-11th, the Venice International Film Festival has announced its official selection, complete with buzzy new premieres from directors Ana Lily Amirpour, Jane Campion, Paul Schrader, Ridley Scott, Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, and David Gordon Green. The festival ties with Cannes this year, having four films directed by women in its official competition (in addition to Campion and Amirpour’s entries, films from Audrey Diwan and Maggie Gyllenhaal will compete for the lion). Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers will open the festival, having its later North American premiere at NYFF. Beyond these buzzier titles, early sources also heavily praise Il Buco, L’Evenement, and Lost Illusions.

Opening Night
PARALLEL MOTHERS Pedro Almodóvar (in competition)

Competition/Venezia 78
MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON Ana Lily Amirpour
UN AUTRE MONDE Stephanie Brize
THE POWER OF THE DOG Jane Campion
AMERICA LATINA Damiano D’Innocenzo and Fabio D’Innocenzo
L’EVENEMENT Audrey Diwan
OFFICIAL COMPETITION Gaston Duprat and Mariana Cohn
IL BUCO Michelangelo Frammartino
SUNDOWN Michel Franco
LOST ILLUSIONS Xavier Giannoli
THE LOST DAUGHTER Maggie Gyllenhaal
SPENCER Pablo Larrain
FREAKS OUT Gabrielle Mainetti
QUI RIDO IO Mario Martone
ON THE JOB: THE MISSING 8 Erik Matti
LEAVE NO TRACES Jan P. Matuszynski
CAPTAIN VOLKONOGOV ESCAPED Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov
THE CARD COUNTER Paul Schrader
THE HAND OF GOD Paolo Sorrentino
REFLECTION Valentyn Vasyanovych
LA CAJA Lorenzo Vigas

Out of Competition (Fiction)
IL BAMBINO NASCOSTO Roberto Ando (closing film of the festival)
LES CHOSES HUMAINES Yvan Attal
ARIAFERMA Leonardo di Costanzo
HALLOWEEN KILLS David Gordon Green
LA SCOULA CATTOLICA Stefano Mordini
OLD HENRY Potsy Ponciroli
THE LAST DUEL Ridley Scott
DUNE Denis Villeneuve
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Edgar Wright
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE Hagai Levi

Out of Competition (Non Fiction)
LIFE OF CRIME 1984-2020 Jon Alpert
TRANCHEES Loup Bureau
VIAGGIO NEL CREPUSCOLO Augusto Contento
REPUBLIC OF SILENCE Diana el Jeiroudi
HALLELUJAH: LEOARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine
DEANDRE#DEANDRE STORIA DI UN IMPIAGATO Roberta Lena
DJANGO AND DJANGO Luca Rea
WZIO BOSSO. LE COSE CHE RESTANO Giorgio Verdelli

Out of Competition (Short Films)
PLASTIC SEMIOTIC Radu Jude
THE NIGHT Tsai Ming-Liang
SAD FILM Vasili (Pseudonym)

Horizons/Orizzonti
LES PROMESSES Thomas Kruithof
ATLANTIDE Yuri Ancarani
MIRACE Bogdan George Apetri
PILGRIMS Laurynas Bareisa
IL PARADISO DEL PAVONE Laura Bispuri
THE FALLS Chung Mong-Hong
EL HOYO EN LA CERCA Joaquin Del Paso
AMIRA Mohamed Diab
A PLEIN TEMPS Eric Gravel
107 MOTHERS Peter Kerekes
VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA Kaltrina Krasniqi
WHITE BUILDING Kavich Neang
ANATOMY OF TIME Jakrawal Nilthamrong
EL OTRO TOM Rodrigo Pla and Laura Santullo
EL GRAM MOVIMIENTO Kiro Russo
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CALCUTTA Aditya Vikram Sengupta
RHINO Oleg Sentsov
TRUE THINGS Harry Wootliff
INU-OH Yuasa Masaaki

Horizons/Orizzonti Extra
LAND OF DREAMS Sherin Neshat and Shoja Azari
COSTA BRAVA Mounia Akl
MAMA I’M HOME Vladimir Bitokov
MA NUIT Antoinette Boulat
LA RAGAZZA HA VOLATO Wilma Labate
7 PRISONERS Alexandre Moratto
THE BLIND MAN WHO DID NOT WANT TO SEE TITANIC Teemu Nikki
LA MACCHINA DELLE IMMAGINI DI ALFREDO C. Roland Sejko

Author: Sarah Williams

Lover of feminist cinema, misunderstood horror, and noted Céline Sciamma devotee. Vulgar auteurist, but only for Planetarium (2016).