While Toronto got a head start announcing its initial lineup, the first major fall festival is Venice. And this morning, La Biennale di Venezia officially announced a lineup that includes new works from Martin McDonagh, Werner Herzog, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Florian Zeller and documentary filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Earlier, Danny Boyle’s “Ink” was announced as the opening night film for the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Perhaps the biggest news was the film that won’t be there, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Digger.” Two of Iñárritu’s last three films debuted at Venice.
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Kore-eda returns with “Look Back,” his second film in four months after “Sheep in the Box” premiered at Cannes in May. Lee Chang-dong follows up his acclaimed 2018 drama “Burning” with “Possible Love.” Zeller returns to the Lido with “Bunker,” starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, his first film since 2022’s “The Son.” After not getting a competition slot at Cannes, Werner Herzog will be up for the Golden Lion with “Bucking Fastard,” starring Kate Rooney and Mara Rooney.
Other world premieres include Gael Garcia Bernal’s “Hombre al agua,” and Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?” Russell Crowe‘s musical “What Love Builds.” Nanni Moretti returns to Venice for the first time since 1989 with “Succedera Questa Notte.” A surprise inclusion was Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime” starring Robert Pattinson.
Other films that were rumored for Venice but won’t make their way to Italy include Mike Leigh’s “Tender Loving Care,” Andrew Haigh’s “A Long Winter,” Simon Stone’s “Elsinore,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial,” and Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning,” among other movies expected to debut this fall.
On the documentary side, Chin and Vasarhelyi return with their second documentary in a year, “Everest The Other Side.” Luca Guadagnino will not have a narrative work at the festival, but his seven-hour “Joie De Vivre” doc on the career of Bernardo Bertolucci will screen there. Laura Poitras and Rachel Muller will show never-before-seen footage of the Minnesota protests over ICE with the short documentary “They’re Here.” “The Truffle Hunters” filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw return with “Burgundy,” about the world of wine, while Alex Gibney premieres a four-hour Elon Musk documentary, “Musk.” Julia Loktev unveils the second half of her acclaimed doc, “My Undesirable Friends,” with “My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile.” Wim Wenders follows famed architect Peter Zumthor with “From Inside Out – The Architecture of Peter Zumthor.” And two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple returns with “Union Town.”
Noteworthy, Fancesco Carrozzini will premiere “Be Brave,” a movie made completely by AI for the purpose of “artistic expression.” Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace will shed light on the Gallagher Brothers with “Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger.”
This year’s jury president is Maggie Gyllenhaal. She’s joined by jurors filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, composer Daniel Blumberg, film critic Francesco Casetti, and directors Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Johnnie To. Ellen Burstyn will receive an honorary Golden Lion.
The complete Venice Film Festival feature lineup is as follows:
VENICE COMPETITION
INK*
Danny Boyle
with Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy
*Opening Film
Company
Casey Affleck
with Nick Nolte, Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy, Adelaide Clemens
Kami Nour (A Bit Of Light)
Ali Asgari
Ritorno A Buenos Aires
Marco Bechis
Un Bon Petit Soldat
Stephane Brize
In Fuoco Che Ti Porti Dentro
Edoardo De Angelis
Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown)
May el-Toukhy
Bucking Fastard
Werner Herzog
with Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson
15/18 (A Place To Heal)
Cedric Kahn
Dau
Ilya Khrzhanovsky
Look Back
Hirokazu Koreeda
Ga-Neung-Han Sa-Rang (Possible Love)
Lee Chang-dong
Wild Horse Nine
Martin McDonagh
with John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Mariana Di Girolami, Tom Waits, Parker Posey
Succedera Questa Notte
Nanni Moretti
Primetime
Lance Oppenheim
with Robert Pattinson, Merritt Weaver, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridges
The Echo Chamber
Andrea Pallaoro
with Luca Marinelli, Alicia Vikander, Susan Sarandon
Un Peu Avant Minuit
Nicolas Pariser
L’Estranea
Paolo Strippoli
The Echo Chamber
Andrea Pallaoro
with Luca Marinellli, Alicia Vikander, Susan Sarandon
Un Peu Avant Minuit
Nicolas Pariser
L’Estranea
Paolo Strippoli
Nelson San, Anata Ha Hito Wo Koroshimashktaka? (Mr. Nelson Did You Kill People?)
Shinya Tsukamoto
with Rodney Hicks, Geoffrey Rush
Bunker
Florian Zeller
with Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano, Patrick Schwarzenegger
ORIZZONTI
La Ragazza Con La Leica*
Alina Marazzi
*Opening Film
Yak Mai (The Burning Giants)
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Cudze Rzecy (What Belongs To Others)
Grzegorz Debowski
Una Storia
Anna Foglietta
La Città Dei Vivi
Edoardo Gabbriellini
Moragheb (Falling Horse)
Mohsen Gharaei
Too Much Sugar
Robert Greene
The Difficult Bride
Rubaiyat Hossain
La Maison Du Vent
Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
I Figli Della Scimmia
Tommaso Landucci
Mia Mera Sti Zoi Tis Tzo: Kefalaio Faidra (A Dan In The Life of Jo: Chapther Phaedra)
Jacqueline Lentzou
Oase (Oasis)
Jannis Lenz
Do Kraja Dana (Until The Day Ends)
Jelena Maksimovic
La Moula
Jerome Pierrat
Lovers in the Blue Night
Anuparna Roy
Un Detour Par Diane
Ann Sirot, Raphael Balboni
The Color of the Sun
Xavier Tera
Eklipse
Manuel Wetscher
Huangyan Shenghuo (Big Little Things)
Michelle Zhou
VENICE SPOTLIGHT
Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing*
Erik Shirai
*Opening film
Hiwar Ma’Albahr (Conversation with the Sea)
Muayad Alvan
Hombre Al Agua
Gael Garcia Bernal
Serpenti
Robero De Paolis Maino
Furies
Rami Kodeih
Guria
Levan Koguashvili
Foldszint (Ground Floor)
Gabor Reisz
Eu Contez (I Matter)
Alina Serban
VENICE OPEN – OUT OF COMPETITION FILMS ON FILMS
Juso Per Ferie
Karen Di Porto
Nino – Un Film Su Nino Rota
Walter Fasano
The Pervert’s Guide to Utopias
Sophie Fiennes
Joie De Vivre
Luca Guadagnino
Twist and Shoot Mister Suzuki
Yves Montamayeur
Intermission
Yonfan
VENICE OPEN – OUT OF COMPETITION NON FICTION
Be Brave
Fancesco Carrozzini
What Love Builds
Russell Crowe
Burgundy
Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Musk
Alex Gibney
The Road to Jericho
Amos Gitai
Al Mowaten Osama (Citizen Osama)
Ahmed Hassouna
Union Town
Barbara Kopple
Holy Wood Dust
Victor Kossakovsky
Listy (Letters From The Silenced Country)
Andrei Kutsilaa
Biografia De Jorge Luis Borges
Mariano Llinas
My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile
Julia Loktev
Boatbuilders
Luke Lorentzen
Imperium
Sergei Lonznitsa
Shumei – The Living Legacy of Kabuki
Takashi Miike
Queer Edward II
Theo Rollanson
Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger
Dylan Southern, Will Lovelace
Weichen (Dust)
Tsai Ming-liang
Everest: The Other Side
Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
From Inside Out – The Architecture of Peter Zumthor
Wim Wenders
VENICE OPEN – OUT OF COMPETITION – FICTION
Dio Ride*
Giovanni Versonesi
*Closing Film
Nessun Dolore
Gianni Amelio
Makikraan Po (Let US Through, Dear Ancestors)
Lav Diaz
Father Joe
Barthélémy Grossmann
with Keifer Sutherland and Al Pacino
Father Joe
Barthélémy Grossmann
Scherzetto
Mario Martone
Place To Be
Kornél Mundruczó
with Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson, Murray Bartlett
No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman
Halkawt Mustafa
Arrested Memory
Sabu
The Basics of Philosophy
Paul Schrader
with Jack Huston, Sofia Boutella, Bill Pullman
Un Bon Avocat
Tristan Séguéla
Jupiter
Alexandr Smia
SPECIAL SCREENING
Dai Nostri Inviati. La Rai Racconta La Mostra Del Cinema Di Venezia 2001-2012
Giuseppe Giannotti, Enrico Salvaori, Nicoletta. Berardi
The 2026 Venice International Film Festival runs from Sept 2 – 12. Look for complete coverage on The Playlist from the Lido.
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Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
