From September 2 to 12, the 83rd Venice International Film Festival returns to the Lido, directed by Alberto Barbera and chaired by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. Today, the official selection of films competing for the Golden Lion was announced, along with the titles that will be presented out of competition. This edition promises to be packed with great filmmakers, world premieres, and international guests ready to liven up the Lido. Representing Italian cinema will be five films in competition: *Ritorno a Buenos Aires* by Marco Bechis, *Il fuoco che ti porti dentro* by Edoardo De Angelis, *Succederà questa notte* by Nanni Moretti—who returns to the Venice competition after 37 years—*The Echo Chamber* by Andrea Pallaoro, and *L’estranea* by Paolo Strippoli. The festival will open with Danny Boyle’s *Ink*, while the closing film, screened out of competition, will be Giovanni Veronesi’s *Dio ride*.
Among the most anticipated events in the Out of Competition section is *Don’t Look Back in Anger*, a documentary about Oasis, conceived by Steven Knight and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, which will have its world premiere before its release in Italian theaters. There is also great anticipation for Luca Guadagnino’s new documentary on Bernardo Bertolucci, which will run for about seven hours. And then there’s *Be Brave*, a documentary film that tells the extraordinary story of Renzo Rosso’s life and entrepreneurial journey.
The competition brings together some of the biggest names in international cinema, including Danny Boyle, Casey Affleck, Werner Herzog, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Lee Chang-dong, Martin McDonagh, Shinya Tsukamoto, and Florian Zeller. Also worth noting is a statistic that is sure to spark debate: among the twenty films in competition, there is only one female director, the Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy, whose film *Woman Unknown* is in the running.
The films in competition
“Ink” by Danny Boyle (opening film)
Casey Affleck’s Company
Kami Nour (A Bit of Light) by Ali Asgari
Return to Buenos Aires by Marco Bechis
*Un bon petit soldat* by Stéphane Brizé
*The Fire Within You* by Edoardo De Angelis
*Kvinde ukendt* (Woman Unknown) by May el-Toukhy
*Bucking Fastard* by Werner Herzog
15/18 (A Place to Heal) by Cédric Kahn
DAU by Ilya Khrzhanovsky
“Look Back” by Hirokazu Kore-eda
*Ga-neung-han sa-rang* (Possible Love) by Lee Chang-dong
*Wild Horse Nine* by Martin McDonagh
“It Will Happen Tonight” by Nanni Moretti
*Primetime* by Lance Oppenheim
*The Echo Chamber* by Andrea Pallaoro
*Un peu avant minuit* by Nicolas Pariser
“The Stranger” by Paolo Strippoli
*Nelson-san, Anata wa Hito wo Koroshimashita ka?* (Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?) by Shinya Tsukamoto
*Bunker* by Florian Zeller
The Out of Competition – Fiction section will feature eleven films:
*God Laughs* by Giovanni Veronesi (closing film)
*No Pain* by Gianni Amelio
“Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors” by Lav Diaz
*Father Joe* by Barthélémy Grossmann
“A Little Joke” by Mario Martone
*Place to Be* by Kornél Mundruczó
“No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman” by Halkawt Mustafa
“Arrested Memory” by SABU
*The Basics of Philosophy* by Paul Schrader
*Un bon avocat* by Tristan Séguéla
“Jupiter” by Alexandre Smia
[📸 Courtesy of Cristiana Caimmi]
