From the return of Nanni Moretti to the Penélope Cruz-Javier Bardem couple, passing through Robert Pattinson, Rooney and Kate Mara, George Clooney and an almost four-hour documentary dedicated to Elon Musk. The 83rd Venice International Film Festival is preparing to once again transform the Lido into the center of world cinema. Directed by Alberto Barbera, the 2026 edition will take place from 2 to 12 September, preceded on 1 September by the screening of With my heart in my mouththe 1967 film by Tinto Brass chosen as the pre-opening.
Leading the international jury will be Maggie Gyllenhaal, called to award the Golden Lion and the other competition prizes. However, there were two Golden Lions for lifetime achievement: George Clooney, celebrated during the inaugural ceremony with a laudatio from Laura Dern, and Ellen Burstyn. An edition built around big names, expected returns and openly political works, in which Hollywood entertainment coexists with a cinema determined to measure itself with the present.
Danny Boyle opens the Show with Ink
The opening film will be Ink by Danny Boyle, presented in Competition. Adaptation of the play of the same name by James Graham, it tells the story of the takeover of the British newspaper The Sun by Rupert Murdoch in 1969 and the resulting transformation in language and the information market. Guy Pearce plays the Australian tycoon, alongside Jack O’Connell and Claire Foy. More than just a biopic, the film promises to investigate the moment when press, power and entertainment began to become difficult to separate.
The exhibition will instead close with God laughs by Giovanni Veronesi, presented Out of Competition. The cast includes Pierfrancesco Favino, Silvio Orlando, Alma Noce, Francesco Gheghi, Maurizio Lombardi, Paolo Rossi and Carlo Cecchi.
The great titles of the Competition
There are 21 films initially announced for Venezia 83, to which it was added at the last moment NAZAYuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s documentary on the use of military systems to predict civilian casualties from attacks on Gaza. His entry made a competition marked by wars, media power, violence and fragility of relationships even more explicitly political.
Among the most anticipated titles is Wild Horse Nine by Martin McDonagh, which brings together a particularly impressive cast made up of John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey. The director of The spirits of the island returns with a black comedy set in the world of the CIA, destined to be one of the most discussed films of the edition.
Robert Pattinson is the protagonist of Primetime by Lance Oppenheim. Set in 2006, the film is based on the American television phenomenon To Catch a Predator and reflects on the increasingly ambiguous boundary between journalism, entertainment and justice transformed into entertainment.
Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem return to act together in Bunker by Florian Zeller, alongside Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger. Werner Herzog directs Rooney and Kate Mara, for the first time together on screen, in Bucking Fastardcompleted by the presence of Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson.
There is also great anticipation for the return of Asian cinema. Hirokazu Kore-eda presents Look Backwhile Lee Chang-dong arrives with Possible Lovestarring Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong. Shinya Tsukamoto brings to the Lido Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?starring Geoffrey Rush and Lily Franky.
Among the other films in the competition appear Company by Casey Affleck, A Bit of Light of the Iranian Ali Asgari, A bon petit soldier by Stéphane Brizé with Alba Rohrwacher and Vincent Lindon, Woman Unknown by May el-Toukhy, A Place to Heal by Cédric Kahn, Dau by Ilya Khrzhanovsky and A little avant minuit by Nicolas Pariser.
Italian cinema in competition
The Italian presence in the Competition is particularly significant. Nanni Moretti returns to Venice with It will happen tonightstarring Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca, Hippolyte Girardot, Angela Finocchiaro and the director himself.
Edoardo De Angelis presents The fire you carry inside youwith Vanessa Scalera, Lino Musella, Elena Radonicich and Tommaso Ragno. Marco Bechis signs Return to Buenos Aireswhile Andrea Pallaoro directs Luca Marinelli, Alicia Vikander and Susan Sarandon in The Echo Chamber.
Complete the Italian selection The stranger by Paolo Strippoli, with Jasmine Trinca, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Adriano Giannini and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Five films that convey a very different panorama across generations, languages and ambitions, from the most recognizable auteur cinema to contamination with thrillers and genres.
Out of Competition between Al Pacino, Toni Servillo and Pamela Anderson
Venice Open, the new name of the Out of Competition section, also presents a program full of international performers. Father Joe by Barthélémy Grossmann brings together Kiefer Sutherland, Ever Anderson and Al Pacino, while Ellen Burstyn also arrives as the protagonist of Place to Be by Kornél Mundruczó, alongside Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson and Murray Bartlett.
Paul Schrader presents The Basics of Philosophywith Jack Huston, Sofia Boutella and Bill Pullman. Lav Diaz signs Let Us Through, Dear Ancestorswhile Takashi Miike temporarily abandons fiction to talk about Kabuki theater in Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki.
Italy is represented by No pain by Gianni Amelio, with Alessandro Borghi, Valeria Golino and Valerio Mastandrea, and by Joke by Mario Martone, starring Toni Servillo and Serena Rossi. The series is added to the selection Sin by Valerio Vestoso, with Emanuela Fanelli at the center of a cast that includes Paola Cortellesi, Alessandro Borghi, Sabrina Ferilli, Geppi Cucciari and Valerio Mastandrea.
The most anticipated documentaries
One of the most interesting sections of the 2026 edition is dedicated to the cinema of reality. Musk by Alex Gibney promises to analyze the figure of Elon Musk without indulgence in 225 minutes, reconstructing his rise through testimonies from family members, journalists, scholars and former collaborators.
Music enters the program with Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, dedicated to the story of Liam and Noel Gallagher. Russell Crowe directs and stars What Love Buildswhile Francesco Carrozzini signs Well donea portrait of Renzo Rosso in which, among others, John Galliano, Glenn Martens, Anna Wintour and Jovanotti participate.
Luca Guadagnino presents the monumental Joie de vivreseven hours and fifteen minutes of notes, conversations and images on Bernardo Bertolucci and twentieth-century cinephilia, with interventions by Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón and Catherine Breillat. Wim Wenders dedicates instead From Inside Out to the architecture of Peter Zumthor.
The most demanding works in terms of duration also include My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile by Julia Loktev, almost six hours long, and the film biography of Jorge Luis Borges by Mariano Llinás. The story of the present also passes through Citizen Osama by Ahmed Hassouna, The Road to Jericho by Amos Gitai e Imperium by Sergei Loznitsa.
Orizzonti and the new Italian cinema
The Orizzonti section continues to observe emerging authors and new trends in international cinema. Among the Italian titles it stands out A storyAnna Foglietta’s directorial debut with Alba Rohrwacher and Guido Caprino. Edoardo Gabbriellini presents The city of the livingbased on Nicola Lagioia’s book on the Varani crime, while Tommaso Landucci directs Riccardo Scamarcio in The children of the monkey.
Alina Marazzi brings to the Lido The girl with the Leicadedicated to the photographer and reporter Gerda Taro. The selection is completed by works from Thailand, Iran, Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, China, Serbia and America, confirming Orizzonti as the space most open to discovery and to the least represented films.
Alongside this section, Venezia Spotlight returns, with the public award Armani Beauty, Venezia Classici, dedicated to restorations, Venice Immersive, reserved for virtual and augmented reality experiences, and Biennale College Cinema. The program also includes the Authors’ Days and the International Critics’ Week, independent sections traditionally focused on first works and more experimental voices.
The masterclasses and meetings at the Lido
The program does not end with screenings. From 3 to 9 September the Match Point Arena will host a series of masterclasses with George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn, together with Luc Besson, Luca Guadagnino and Chloé Zhao, the latter supported by director of photography Łukasz Żal.
