Films by David Gordon Green, Andrew Niccol and Abel Ferrara will bring world premieres to the Lido di Venezia this year, as the Venice Film Festival has announced its selections for the 71st edition of the oldest such event in the world.
Green's “Manglehorn” with Al Pacino, Niccol's “Good Kill” with Ethan Hawke and Ferrara's “Pasolini” with Willem Dafoe promise to bring a fair share of star power to the event, while actors such as Viggo Mortensen, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver feature in films sprinkled throughout the Competition. “The Act of Killing” director Joshua Oppenheimer will also continue his look at the Indonesian genocide with a new documentary, “The Look of Silence.”
Playing out of competition are films by Barry Levinson (“The Humbling,” also starring Pacino), James Franco (“The Sound and the Fury”) and Lisa Cholodenko (“Olive Kitteridge”), while Focus Features will bring the new Laika film, “The Boxtrolls,” for a world premiere.
Previously announced, Alejandro González Iñárritu's “Birdman,” starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone, will open the festival on Aug. 27, while Ann Hui's “Golden Era” will close things out on Sept. 6.
On Wednesday, the festival announced the lineup of the its independently run Venice Days, a sidebar similar to Cannes' Directors' Fortnight. Films set to play in that section include Kim Ki-duk's “One on One,” Shawn Christensen's “Before I Disappear” and Laurent Cantet's “Return to Ithaca.” All in all 14 films will play in the program, 12 of them in competition – it is, in fact, the first year Venice Days has featured a competitive element.
Additionally, films in the Venice Days section will compete with other competition titles in the Venice Film Festival for prizes like the Lion of the Future (for best debut film), the Europa Cinemas Label Prize for best European film and the FEDORA Prize (European and Mediterranean film critics' federation) for best film and best young director.
Venice Days will also continue its Women's Tales program, centered on female creativity with two short film presentations and a quartet of Q&As with leading women artists. And the sidebar's partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival will continue, bringing a US film showcased at the New York fest for an international premiere (Keith Miller's “Five Star” getting the designation this year).
Also previously announced, film editor Thelma Schoonmaker and documentary filmmaking legend Frederick Wiseman will receive Golden Lions from the fest for Lifetime Achievement.
Check out the full festival lineup on the next page.
The 71st annual Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 27 – Sept. 6.
COMPETITION
Opening Night Film
“Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Alejandro González Iñárritu
“The Cut,” Faith Akin
“A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence,” Roy Andersson
“99 Homes,” Ramin Bahrani
“Ghesseha (Tales),” Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
“La Rançon de la Gloire,” Xavier Beauvois
“Hungry Hearts,” Saverio Costanzo
“Le Dernier Coup de Marteau,” Alix Delaporte
“Pasolini,” Abel Ferrara
“Manglehorn,” David Gordon Green
“3 Coeurs (3 Hearts),” Benôit Jacquot
“Belye Nochi Pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna (The Postman's White Nights),” Andrey Konchalovskiy
“Il Giovane Favoloso,” Mario Martone
“Sivas,” Kaan Mujdeci
“Anime Nere,” Francesco Munzi
“Good Kill,” Andrew Niccol
“Loin des Hommes,” David Oelhoffen
“The Look of Silence,” Joshua Oppenheimer
“Nobi (Fires on the Plain),” Shinya Tsukamoto
“Chuangru Zhe (Red Amnesia),” Xiaoshuai Wang
OUT-OF-COMPETITION
“Words with Gods,” Guillermo Arriaga, Emir Kusturica, Amos Gitai, Mira Nair, Warwick Thornton, Hector Babenco, Bahman Ghobai, Hideo Nakata, Alex de la Iglesia
“She's Funny That Way,” Peter Bogdanovich
“Dearest,” Peter Ho-sun Chan
“Olive Kitteridge,” Lisa Cholodenko
“Burying the Ex,” Joe Dante
“Perez,” Edowardo De Angelis
“La Zuppa De Demonio,” Davide Ferrario
“The Sound and the Fury,” James Franco
“Tsili,” Amos Gitai
“La Trattativa,” Sabina Guzzanti
Closing Night Film
“The Golden Era,” Ann Hui
“Make-Up,” Im Kwontaek
“The Humbling,” Barry Levinson
“The Old Man of Belem,” Manoel de Oliveira
“Italy in a Day,” Gabriele Salvatores
“In the Basement,” Ulrich Seidl
“The Boxtrolls,” Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
“Nymphomaniac Volume II: Director's Cut,” Lars Von Trier
HORIZONS
“Theeb,” Naiji Abu Nowar
“Line of Credit,” Salome Alexi
“Senza Nessuna Pieta,” Michele Alhaique
“Cymbeline,” Michael Almereyda
“Near Death Experience,” Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern
“Réalité,” Quentin Dupieux
“I Spy/I Spy,” Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
“Hill of Freedom,” Hong Sangsoo
“Bypass,” Duane Hopkins
“The President,” Mohsen Makhmalbaf
“Your Right Mind,” Ami Canaan Mann
“Belluscone, Una Storia Siciliana,” Franco Maresco
“Nabat,” Elchin Musaoglu
“Heaven Knows What,” Josh Safdie, Ben Safdie
“These are the Rules,” Ognjen Sviliviv
“Court,” Chaitanya Tamhane
VENICE DAYS
Opening Film, Out-of-Competition
“One on One,” Kim Ki-duk
Closing Film, Out-of-Competition
“Messi,” Alex De La Iglesia
“El 5 De Talleres,” Adrian Biniez
“Return to Ithaca,” Laurent Cantet
“Before I Disappear,” Shawn Christensen
“The Dinner,” Ivano De Matteo
“Les Nuits D'Ete,” Mario Fanfani
“Patria,” Felice Farina
“Metamorphoses,” Christophe Honore
“Between 10 and 12,” Peter Hoogendoom
“The Farewell Party,” Mita Tova
“The Goob,” Guy Myhill
“Labour of Love (Asha Jaoar Majhe),” Adityavikram Sengupta
“They Have Escaped (He Ovat Paenneet),” Jukka Pekka Valeppa