The red carpet may not have as many stars as in previous years, but the 2023 edition of the Venice Film Festival will feature a slew of highly anticipated films. And, likely, their directors taking center stage. Today La Biennale di Venezia announced 82 selections including highly anticipated world premieres Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” David Fincher’s “The Killer,” Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” and, in a surprise, Ava DuVernay’s “Origin.”
READ MORE: TIFF 2023: New Films From Taika Waititi, Craig Gillespie, Anna Kendrick, Viggo Mortensen
Other films selected to screen on the Lido include Luc Besson’s “Dogman” with Caleb Landry Jones; Richard Linkletter’s “The Hit Man” with Glen Powell; Michael Franco’s “Memory” with Jessica Chastain and Peter Skarsgard; Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast” with Lea Seydoux and George MacKay; Pablo Larrain’s “El Conde”; Ryusuke Hamaguchi follow up to “Drive My Car,” “Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai (Evil Does Not Exist)”; and Agnieszka Holland‘s under the radar “Zielona Granica (The Green Border)”
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the festival lineup is that Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance” was selected. Allen has not had a film in the United States since “Rifkin’s Festival” was barely released in January 2020. How the film industry reacts to Allen being allowed back into the good graces of one of the world’s premiere film festivals will be a developing story in the weeks ahead. And, Allen isn’t the only controversial director on the slate, Roman Polanski returns to Venice with “The Palace” starring John Cleese and Mickey Rourke, among others.
A number of intriguing titles out of competition include Jack Huston’s “Day of the Fight” with Michael C. Pitt, Nicolette Robinson and Ron Pearlman; Rob Lorenz’s “In The Land of Saints and Sinners” with Liam Neeson and Kerry Condon; Olmo Schnabel’s “Pet Shop Boys” with Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek and Willem Dafoe; Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ “Gasoline Rainbow”; J.A. Bayona’s “La Sociedad de la Nieve”; Wes Anderson’s “The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar” (just 40 min long); and William Friedkin’s “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” with Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Clarke (a Showtime feature) and Harmony Korine’s “Aggro Dr1ft” with Travis Scott.
Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” was initially announced as the opening night film until concerns over an extended SAG strike prompted the filmmaker and MGM to push the Zendaya-starring drama to 2024. Venice announced that Edoardo De Angelis’ “Commandante” will now open the festival.
The complete list of Venice feature selections is as follows:
Venice Classics – Documentaries about Cinema
“Bill Douglas – My Best Friend” – Jack Archer
“Le Film Pro Nazi D’Hitchcock” – Daphne Bawir
“Thank You Very Much” – Alex Braverman
“Landrian” – Ernesto Daranas Serrano
“Un’Altra Italia Era Possible, Il Cinema Di Giuseppe De Santis” – Steve Della Casa
“Michel Gondry Do It Yourself” – Francois Nemeta
“Ken Jacobs – From Orchard Street To The Museum of Modern Art” – Fred Redel
“Dario Argento Panico” – Simone Scafidi
“Frank Capra: Mr America” – Matthew Wells
Orizzonti
“A Cielo Abierto” – Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga
“El Pariso” – Enrico Maria Artale
“Behind The Mountains” – Mohamed Ben Attia
“The Red Suitcase” – Fidel Devote
“Tatami” – Guy Native, Zar Amier Ebrahmi
“Paradise is Burning” – Mika Gustafson
“The Featherweight” – Robert Kolodny
“Invelle” – Simone Massi
“Hesitation Wound” – Selman Nacar
“Heartless” – Nara Normande, Tiao
“Una Sterminata Domenica” – Alain Parroni
“City of Wind” – Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
“Explanation For Everything” – Gabor Reisz
“Gasoline Rainbow” – Bill Ross, Turner Ross
“En Attendant La Nuit” – Celine Rouzet
“Housekeeping For Beginners” – Goran Stolevski
“Hokage (Shadow of Fire)” – Shinya Tsukamoto
“Yurt (Dormitory)” – Nehir Tuna
Orizzonti Extra
“Bota Jone” – Luana Bajrami
“Forever Forever” – Anna Buryachkova
“The Rescue” – Daniela Goggi
“Days of the Flight” – Jack Huston
“In The Land of Saints and Sinners” – Robert Lorenz
“Felicta” – Micaela Ramazzotti
“Pet Shop Boys” – Olmo Schnabel
“Stolen” – Karan Tejpal
“L’Homme D’Argile” – Anais Telienne
Out of Competition
“La Parte Del Leone: Una Storia Della Mostra” – Baptiste Etchegaray, Giuseppe Bucchi
“D’Argent et De Sang” (Ep. 1-12) – Xavier Giannoli, Frédéric Planchon
“I Know Your Soul”. (Ep. 1-2) – Jamila Zbanic, Damir Ibrahimovic
Out of Competition – Non Fiction
“Amor” – Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri
“Frente A Guernica (Versione Integrale)” – Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi
“Hollywooodgate” – Ibrahim Nash’at
“Ryuichi Sakamoto” – Neo Sora
“Enzo Jannacci Vengo Anch’io” – Giorgio Verdelli
“Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros” – Frederick Wiseman
Out of Competition – Fiction
“La Sociedad de la Nieve” – J.A. Bayona
“Coup De Chance” – Woody Allen
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” – Wes Anderson
“The Penitent” – Luca Barbareschi
“L’Ordine Del Tempo” – Lilana Cavani
“Viviants” – Alix Delaporte
“Welcome to Paradise” – Leonardo Di Costanzo
“DAAAAAALI!” – Quentin Dupieux
“The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” – William Friedkin
“Making Of” – Cedric Kahn
“Aggro Dr1ft” – Harmony Korine
“Hit Man” – Richard Linklater
“The Palace” – Roman Polanski
“Xue Bad (Snow Leopard)” – Pema Tseden
Competition
“Comandante” – Edoardo De Angelis
“Bastarden (The Promised Land)” – Nikolaj Arcel
“Dogman” – Luc Besson
“La Bete (The Beast)” – Bertrand Bonello
“Hors-Saison” – Stephane Brize
“Enea” – Pietro Castellitto
“Maestro” – Bradley Cooper
“Priscilla” – Sofia Coppola
“Finalmente L’Alba” – Saverio Costanzo
“Lubo” – Giorgio Diritti
“Origin” – Ava DuVernay
“The Killer” – David Fincher
“Memory” – Michel Franco
“Io Capitano” – Matteo Garrone
“Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai (Evil Does Not Exist)” – Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Zielona Granica (The Green Border)” – Agnieszka Holland
“Die Theorie Von Allem” – Timm Kroger
“Poor Things” – Yorgos Lanthimos
“El Conde” – Pablo Larrain
“Ferrari” – Michael Mann
“Adagio” – Sefano Sollima
“Kobieta Z…(Woman Of)” – Małgorzata Szumowska, Michael Englert
“Holly” – Fien Troch
