The opening, on August 30th, of the 80th Venice Film Festival (within La Biennale di Venezia,directed by Alberto Barbera) will be hosted by actress Caterina Murino. This being one of the world’s most important festivals in the film industry, there are guaranteed movies of excellence competing for the Golden Lion. Here is the list of the contenders:
COMANDANTE (COMMANDER) – OPENING FILM by EDOARDO DE ANGELIS, with Pierfrancesco Favino, Massimiliano Rossi, Johan Heldenbergh, Arturo Muselli, Giuseppe Brunetti, Gianluca Di Gennaro, Johannes Wirix, Silvia D’Amico, Paolo Bonacelli / Italy / 155’
BASTARDEN (THE PROMISED LAND) by NIKOLAJ ARCEL, with Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Melina Hagberg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh / Denmark, Germany, Sweden / 127’
DOGMAN by LUC BESSON, with Caleb Landry Jones, Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, Clemens Schick, Grace Palma / France / 114’
LA BÊTE (THE BEAST) by BERTRAND BONELLO, with Léa Seydoux, George MacKay / France, Canada / 146’
HORS-SAISON (OUT OF SEASON) by STÉPHANE BRIZÉ, with Guillaume Canet, Alba Rohrwacher / France / 115’
ENEA by PIETRO CASTELLITTO, with Pietro Castellitto, Giorgio Quarzo Guarascio, Benedetta Porcaroli, Chiara Noschese, Giorgio Montanini, Adamo Dionisi, Matteo Branciamore, Cesare Castellitto, Sergio Castellitto / Italy / 115’
MAESTRO by BRADLEY COOPER, with Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Josh Hamilton, Scott Ellis, Sam Nivola, Alexa Swinton, Miriam Shor / USA / 129’
PRISCILLA by SOFIA COPPOLA, with Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominczyk / USA, Italy / 110’
FINALMENTE L’ALBA by SAVERIO COSTANZO, with Lily James, Rebecca Antonaci, Joe Keery, Rachel Sennott, Alba Rohrwacher, Willem Dafoe / Italy / 140’
LUBO by GIORGIO BYRITTI, with Franz Rogowsky, Christophe Sermet, Valentina Bellè, Noemi Besedes, Cecilia Steiner, Joel Basman, Filippo Giulini, Alessandro Zappella / Italy, Switzerland / 175’
ORIGIN by AVA DUVERNAY, with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Niecy Nash-Betts, Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman, Connie Nielsen / USA / ‘135
THE KILLER by DAVID FINCHER, with Michael Fassbender, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Gabriel Polanco, Kerry O’Malley, Emiliano Pernía, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, Tilda Swinton / USA / 113’
MEMORY by MICHEL FRANCO, with Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Brooke Timber, Merritt Wever, Elsie Fisher, Jessica Harper, Josh Charles / Mexico, USA / 100’
IO CAPITANO (ME CAPTAIN) by MATTEO GARRONE, with Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall / Italy, Belgium / 121’
AKU WA SONZAI SHINAI (EVIL DOES NOT EXIST) by RYÛSUKE HAMAGUCHI, with Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani / Japan / 106’
ZIELONA GRANICA (THE GREEN BORDER) by AGNIESZKA HOLLAND, with Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Tomasz Włosok, Behi Djanati Atai, Mohamad Al Rashi, Dalia Naous / Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium / 147’
DIE THEORIE VON ALLEM by TIMM KRÖGER, with Jan Bülow, Olivia Ross, Hanns Zischler, Gottfried Breitfuss, David Bennent, Philippe Graber / Germany, Austria, Switzerland / 118’
POOR THINGS by YORGOS LANTHIMOS, with Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Suzy Bemba, Jerrod Carmichael, Kathryn Hunter, Vicki Pepperdine, Margaret Qualley, Hanna Schygulla / UK / 141’
EL CONDE by PABLO LARRAÍN, with Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger / Chile / 110’
FERRARI by MICHAEL MANN, with Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, Patrick Dempsey / USA / 130’
ADAGIO by STEFANO SOLLIMA, with Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea, Adriano Giannini, Gianmarco Franchini, Francesco Di Leva, Lorenzo Adorni, Silvia Salvatori / Italy / 127’
KOBIETA Z… (WOMAN OF) by MAŁGORZATA SZUMOWSKA, MICHAŁ ENGLERT, with Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Joanna Kulig, Bogumila Bajor, Mateusz Wieclawek / Poland, Sweden / 132’
HOLLY by FIEN TROCH, with Cathalina Geraerts, Felix Heremans, Greet Verstraete, Serdi Faki Alici, Els Deceukelier / Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France / 102’