Venice Film Festival: Lido To Launch Pics From Ford, Gibson, Malick & More As Awards Season Starts To Buzz – Full List

The 73rd Venice Film Festival has set a strong lineup of world premieres including anticipated films from such helmers as Denis Villeneuve, Pablo Larrain, Derek Cianfrance, Tom Ford, Terrence Malick — and in an out of competition slot, the latest from Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge. They join the previously announced opener, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. The festival has been dedicated to two recently deceased directors: Michael Cimino and Abbas Kiarostami.

Artistic Director Alberto Barbera has had an impressive run over his past few outings curating the Lido event which increasingly acts as a solid primer/launch pad for awards season (think the world premieres of Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and more). This year, Barbera whittled down 1,468 features to a selection of 56 total, including 20 in competition.

The first few days of Venice can be expected to be frontloaded with the splashier titles which then make their way to Toronto and/or Telluride, and often onto the awards circuit. The glamourous, yet accessible, fest is a key chance for studios to get conversations started and films and talent in front of the world media. Doing double-duty this year, Amy Adams stars in both Ford’s Nocturnal Animals (Focus) and Villeneuve’s Arrival (Paramount) — both of which were the subject of mega-deals in recent Cannes markets (see below). Natalie Portman will be seen as Jacqueline Kennedy in Chilean helmer Larrain’s Jackie, and stars in Rebecca Zlotowski’s out of competition Planetarium with Lily-Rose Depp. In Cannes, Larrain told me Jackie would not be a classic biopic.

Venice runs August 31-September 10.

VENICE 73 COMPETITION
The Bad Batch, dir: Ana Lily Amirpour (U.S.)
Une Vie, dir: Stéphane Brizé (France/Belgium)
La La Land, dir: Damien Chazelle (U.S.)
The Light Between Oceans, dir: Derek Cianfrance (U.S./Australia/New Zealand)
El Ciudadano Ilustre, dirs: Mariano Cohn, Gaston Duprat (Argentina/Spain)
Spira Mirabilis, dirs: Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Parenti (Italy/Switzerland)
The Woman Who Left, dir: Lav Diaz (Philippines)
La Region Salvaje, dir: Amat Escalante (Mexico)
Nocturnal Animals, dir: Tom Ford (U.S.)
Piuma, dir: Roan Johnson (Italy)
Paradise, dir: Andrei Konchalovsky (Russia/Germany)
Brimstone, dir: Martin Koolhoven (Netherlands/Germany/Belgium/France/UK/Sweden)
On The Milky Road, dir: Emir Kusturica (Serbia/UK/U.S.)
Jackie, dir: Pablo Larrain (U.S./Chile)
Voyage Of Time, dir: Terrence Malick (U.S./Germany)
El Cristo Ciego, dir: Christopher Murray (Chile/France)*
Frantz, dir: François Ozon (France)
Questi Giorni, dir: Giuseppe Piccioni (Italy)
Arrival, dir: Denis Villeneuve (U.S.)
Les Beaux Jours D’Aranjuez, dir: Wim Wenders (France/Germany)

(Deadline)