The Venice Film Festival has announced its lineup for its 83rd edition, scheduled to open on 2 September with notable films examining influential media and technology figures.
Director Danny Boyle’s “Ink” will serve as the festival’s opening film, centered on Rupert Murdoch’s 1969 acquisition of the Sun newspaper and its impact on British media and society. Guy Pearce portrays the Australian newspaper magnate, with the screenplay authored by award-winning playwright James Graham. Separately, Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has produced a four-hour documentary titled “Musk” that profiles Elon Musk, owner of social network X, which will be shown out of competition.
The main competition features an ensemble of acclaimed international filmmakers and stars. Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents operating in Chile during the lead-up to Augusto Pinochet’s coup. Robert Pattinson leads A24’s “Primetime,” a psychological thriller inspired by the reality television program “To Catch a Predator.” Real-life spouses Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem appear in Florian Zeller’s “Bunker,” while sisters Kate and Rooney Mara star in Werner Herzog’s first dramatic feature film in seven years, “Bucking Fastard.”
The festival program includes works addressing serious subjects. Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary “Imperium” examines a Soviet-era film commissioned by the Italian Communist party, while Laura Poitras’ “They’re Here” documents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in Minneapolis. Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky is presenting work from his ongoing “Dau” project, which explores themes related to Soviet scientific research.
Notable developments in this year’s selection include Italian director Nanni Moretti’s return to the festival after a two-decade absence, showing in competition with his film “Succederà Questa Notte.” However, the festival faces criticism for a significant decrease in female representation in the main competition, with only one female-directed film among the twenty titles selected, following six female-directed entries in the previous year’s program.
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