The world’s oldest film festival will be the first to happen physically since the coronavirus pandemic began. This morning in Rome, the line-up of the forthcoming 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival was announced in full, six weeks ahead of its planned opening. It’s almost contrary to recent years where the festival would be overshadowed by the scale of the announcements of TIFF, its overseas competitor (which is yet to announce the line-up of its more humble edition) – both festivals collaborating on their selections instead.
It’s also a major contrast to what appeared to be a rather reactionary line-up in 2019, generating controversy with its inclusion of Roman Polanski, and only two women directors in competition (Haifaa Al-Mansour, Shannon Murphy). This year however the festival has eight films by women in its main competition, compared to last year’s meager representation.
Cate Blanchett will head up the 2020 international jury, which includes British director Joanna Hogg, French actress Ludivine Sagnier, Austrian filmmaker Veronika Franz, German director Christian Petzold, Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu and Italian writer Nicola Lagioia.
READ MORE: Spike Lee’s Filmed Version Of ‘American Utopia’ To Open This Year’s TIFF
There are some exciting titles both in and out of competition, not least of all Chloé Zhao with her third film “Nomadland,” which was revealed yesterday, as well as Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Wife of a Spy,” and Gia Coppola’s “Mainstream.” The Out of Competiton and Non-Fiction sections are particularly fascinating – director Alice Rohrwacher Jr (“Happy As Lazzaro”)’s “Omelia Contadina,” as well as Frederick Wiseman’s “City Hall,” Abel Ferrara’s “Sportin’ Life,” and… a new documentary co-directed by Orson Welles and Dennis Hopper? A strange year indeed.
You can read the full Venice 2020 line-up below:
Competition
In Between Dying – Hilal Baydarov
Le Sorelle Macaluso –Emma Dante
The World To Come – Mona Fastvold
Nuevo Orden – Michel Franco
Lovers – Nicole Garcia
Laila in Haifa – Amos Gitai
Dear Comrades – Andrei Konchalovsky
Wife Of A Spy – Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Sun Children – Majid Majidi
Pieces Of A Woman – Kornel Mundruczo
Miss Marx – Susanna Nicchiarelli
Padrenostro – Claudio Noce
Notturno – Gianfranco Rosi
Never Gonna Snow Again – Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert
The Disciple – Chaitanya Tamhane
And Tomorrow The Entire World – Julia Von Heinz
Quo Vadis, Aida? – Jasmila Zbanic
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Horizons
Apples – Christos Nikou
La Troisième Guerre – Giovanni Aloi
Milestone – Ivan Ayr
The Wasteland – Ahmad Bahrami
The Man Who Sold His Skin – Kaouther Ben Hania
I Predatori – Pietro Castellitto
Mainstream – Gia Coppola
Genus Pan – Lav Diaz
Zanka Contact – Ismael El Iraki
Guerra E Pace – Martina Parenti, Massimo D’Anolfi
La Nuit Des Rois – Philippe Lacôte
The Furnace – Roderick Mackay
Careless Crime – Shahram Mokri
Gaza Mon Amour –Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Selva Tragica – Yulene Olaizola
Nowhere Special, – Uberto Pasolini
Listen – Ana Rocha de Sousa
The Best Is Yet To Come – Wang Jing
Yellow Cat – Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Out of Competiton – Special Screenings
30 Monedas, Episode 1 – Alex de la Iglesia
Princesse Europe – Camille Lotteau
Omelia Contadina – Alice Rohrwacher, JR
Out Of Competition – Narrative
Lacci – Daniele Lucheti
Lasciami Andare – Stefano Mordini
Mandibules, dir: Quentin Dupieux
Love After Love – Ann Hui
Assandira – Salvatore Mereu
The Duke – Roger Michell
Night In Paradise – Park Soon-jung
Mosquito State – Filip Jan Rymsza
Out Of Competition – Documentary
Sportin’ Life – Abel Ferrara
Crazy, Not Insane – Alex Gibney
Greta – Nathan Grossman
Salvatore, Shoemaker Of Dreams – Luca Guadagnino
Final Account – Luke Holland
La Verita Su La Dolce Vita – Giuseppe Pedersoli
Molecole – Andrea Segre
Narciso Em Ferias – Renato Terra, Ricardo Calil
Paulo Conte, Via Con Me – Giorgio Verdelli
Hopper/Welles – Orson Welles
Following the cancellation of Cannes 2020, many questions have been asked about the festival slate as well as the awards season – Venice and Toronto both considered a sort of launchpad. Far more than recent years, it’s a line-up that feels interested in the discovery of a diverse set of works. More encouraging still is the newfound collaborative spirit between international festivals, with yesterday’s news that Venice and TIFF, as well as the Telluride and New York Film Festivals, will all be working on simultaneous screenings of “Nomadland,” which now finds itself to be one of the highest-profile releases of the festival season. Funny what happens when studio content is thinned out.