Venice Film Festival Lineup Includes ‘Spencer’, ‘Dune’, and ‘The Power of the Dog’

BY SCOTTIE KNOLLIN

After previously announcing its star-studded festival jury, which includes Oscar winners Bong Joon Ho and Chloé Zhao, the Venice Film Festival has cemented itself as one of the most important stops this festival and awards season with a starry lineup. Films from the likes of Jane Campion, Paolo Sorrentino, Edgar Wright, Denis Villeneuve, and Ridley Scott will play to in-person crowds in September.

Campion’s “The Power of the Dog”, a Montana-set drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons, is one of two Netflix films that will play in competition. The streamer has had great success at the festival over the years, including being the launching pad for awards darling “Marriage Story” in 2019. The other Netflix film is Sorrentino’s hotly anticipated “The Hands of God”. Sorrentino has been a favorite in Venice since his first film, “One Man Up”, debuted at the Lido in 2001. Campion has also had a successful Venice career, with “An Angel at My Table” winning the Grand Jury Prize in 1990.

Maggie Gyllenhaal will present her directorial debut, “The Lost Daughter”, an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, and Dakota Johnson. Pablo Larraín will see his return to the Lido after “Jackie” debuted there in 2016 with “Spencer”, an intimate portrait of Princess Diana starring Kristen Stewart.

Among the out-of-competition titles are several potential blockbusters, like Villeneuve’s “Dune”, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, Scott’s “The Last Duel”, starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Adam Driver, and Edgar Wright’s “The Last Night in Soho”, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie. David Gordon Green’s “Halloween Kills” will screen ahead of Jamie Lee Curtis’ lifetime achievement award ceremony.

The 78th Venice Film Festival runs September 1 through September 11.

IN COMPETITION

“America Latina,” Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo (Italy, France)
“Un Autre Monde,” Stephane Brizé (France)
“Il Buco,” Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy, France, Germany)
“La Caja,” Lorenzo Vigas (Mexico, U.S.)
“Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” Yuriy Borisov (Russia, Estonia, France)
“The Card Counter,” Paul Schrader (U.S., U.K., China)
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti (Italy, Belgium)
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
“Leave No Traces,” Jan P. Matuszyski (Poland, France, Czech Republic)
“L’Evenement,” Audrey Diwan (France)
“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal (Greece, U.S., U.K., Israel)
“Lost Illusions,” Xavier Giannoli (France)
“Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” Ana Lily Amirpour (U.S.)
“Official Competition,” Gaston Depart, Mariano Cohn (Spain, Argentina)
“On The Job: The Missing 8,” Eric Matti (Philippines)
“Parallel Mothers,” Pedro Almodovar (Spain)
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion (New Zealand, Australia)
“Qui Rido Io,” Mario Martone (Italy, Spain)
“Reflection,” Valentin Vasyanovych (Ukraine)
“Spencer,” Pablo Larrain (Germany, U.K.)
“Sundown,” Michel Franco” (Mexico, France, Sweden)

OUT OF COMPETITION - FICTION

“Il Bambino Nascosto,” Roberto Andò (Italy) – CLOSING FILM
“Les Choses Humaines,” Yvan Attal (France)
“Ariaferma,” Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy, Switzerland)
“Halloween Kills,” David Gordon Green (U.S.)
“La Scuola Cattolica,” Stefano Mordini (Italy)
“Old Henry,” Potsy Ponciroli (U.S.)
“The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott (U.S., U.K.)
“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve (U.S., Hungary, Jordan, UAE, Norway, Canada)
“Last Night in Soho,” Edgar Wright (U.K.)

OUT OF COMPETITION - NON-FICTION

“Life of Crime 1984-2020,” Jon Albert (U.S.)
“Tranchées,” Loup Bureau (France)
“Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo,” Augusto Contento (France, Italy)
“Republic of Silence,” Diana El Jeiroudi (Germany, France, Syria, Qatar)
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song,” Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine (U.S.)
“DeAndré#Deandré Storia di un Impiegato,” Roberta Lena (Italy)
“Django & Django,” Luca Rea (Italy)
“Ezio Bosso. Le Cose Che Restano,” Giorgio Verdelli (Italy)

OUT OF COMPETITION - TV SERIES

“Scenes From a Marriage” (episodes 1-5), Hagai Levi (U.S.)

HORIZONS

“Les Promesses,” Thomas Kruithof (France) OPENING FILM
“Atlantide,” Yuri Ancarani (Italy, France, U.S., Qatar)
“Miracle” Bogdan George Apetri (Romania Czech Republic, Lettonia)
“Pilgrims,” Laurynas Bareisa (Lithuania)
“The Peackock’s Paradise,” Laura Bispuri (Italy, Germany)
“The Falls,” Chung Mong-Hong (Taiwan)
“El Hoyo En La Cerca,” Joachin Del Paso (Mexico, Poland)
“Amira,” Mohamed Diab (Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia)
“A Plein Temps,” Eric Gravel (France)
“107 Mothers,” Peter Kerkekes (Republic of Slovenia, Czech Republic, Ukraine)
“Vera Dreams of the Sea,” Kaltrina Krasniqi (Albania, North Macedonia)
“White Building,” Kavich Neang (Cambodia, France, China, Qatar)
“Anatomy of Time,” Jakrawal Nilthamrong (Thailand, France, Netherlands, Singapore, Germany)
“El Otro Tom,” Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo (Mexico, U.S.)
“El Gran Movimiento,” Kiro Russo (Bolivia, France, Qatar, Switzerland)
“Once Upon a Time in Calcutta,” Adita Vikram Sengupta (India, France, Norway)
“Rhino,” Oleg Sentsov (Ukraine, Poland, Germany)
“True Things,” Harry Wootliff (U.K.)
“Inu-Oh,” Yuasa Masaaki (Japan, China)

HORIZONS EXTRA

“Land of Dreams,” Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari (U.S., Germany, Qatar) — Opening Film
“Costa Brava,” Mounia Akl (U.S., Germany, Qatar)
“Mama, I’m Home,” Vladimir Bitokov (Russia)
“Ma Nuit,” Antoinette Boulot (France, Belgium)
“La Ragazza Ha Volato,” Wilma Labate (Italy, Slovenia)
“7 Prisoners,” Alexandre Moratto (Brazil)
“The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,” Teemu Nikki (Finland)
“La Macchina Delle Immagini di Alfredo C,” Roland Sejko (Italy)