The 83rd Venice Film Festival is set to unveil a diverse lineup, including a four-hour documentary about Elon Musk and Martin McDonagh's dark CIA comedy, "Wild Horse Nine." The festival, a key event in the fall film season, will also showcase films starring prominent actors such as Robert Pattinson, Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem.
Alberto Barbera, the festival's artistic director, announced the selections on Thursday. The lineup features fewer Hollywood studio films compared to previous years, mirroring a trend seen at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year.
Among the films competing for awards is "Wild Horse Nine," which stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents in Chile leading up to the 1973 coup. Pattinson will appear in "Primetime," portraying "To Catch a Predator" host Chris Hansen. The festival will also present Alex Gibney's "Musk," a comprehensive documentary on the billionaire, and Julia Loktev's "My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile," which follows Russian independent journalists after their departure from the country. This documentary runs for 355 minutes, similar to its first part.
The main competition includes a variety of international and American films, such as Werner Herzog's "Bucking Fastard," featuring Rooney and Kate Mara as identical twins. Florian Zeller's thriller "Bunker," with Bardem and Cruz as a married couple, is also on the program, alongside Lee Chang-dong’s “Possible Love,” Stéphane Brizé’s “A Good Little Soldier,” and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back,” a coming-of-age story about aspiring manga artists. Casey Affleck will compete for the first time with "Company," starring Nick Nolte and Ben Mendelsohn.
Documentary premieres outside the main competition include "Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger," Barbara Kopple’s “Union Town,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's “Everest: The Other Side,” Luca Guadagnino’s seven-hour film on Bernardo Bertolucci titled “Joie de Vivre,” Wim Wenders' exploration of architect Peter Zumthor, Russell Crowe’s autobiographical musical concert film “What Love Builds,” and Laura Poitras’s short film about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, titled “They're Here.”
The festival will open on September 2 with Danny Boyle’s “Ink," an adaptation of James Graham’s stage play about the rise of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. "Ink" is part of the main competition, vying for awards including the Golden Lion. The jury for the Golden Lion will be led by filmmaker and actor Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal also has a short film in the festival, "Flesh Impact," inspired by Marilyn Monroe, featuring Dakota Johnson and Ellen Burstyn. The 93-year-old Burstyn is slated to receive a lifetime achievement award from the festival. George Clooney, a regular at Venice, will also be honored with a lifetime achievement award.