Art, culture, fashion: the International Film Festival by the Venice Biennale turns 80 among glamour and success. The official opening of the 2023 edition is scheduled for this evening, Wednesday, August 30th; this edition will end on Saturday, September 9th. Eleven days dedicated to the 23 films in the competition, among which there are 6 Italian and 7 American ones, and to star catwalks on the red carpet. The opening ceremony will be hosted by the festival’s godmother Caterina Murino. The Artistic Director Alberto Barbera announced that this will be an edition of great cinema, with some of the most anticipated titles of the Fall. During the opening night, Director Liliana Cavani will be awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
The full international juries will be attending, starting with Venice 80’s official one, chaired by Director Damien Chazelle. Later on, the opening film “Comandante” (EN: “Commander”) directed by Edoardo De Angelis, with Pierfrancesco Favino, written by Sandro Veronesi and De Angelis himself, will be screened in competition as world premiere.
Among the films in the competition this year, 6 were made by Italian directors: other than “Comandante”, “Io Capitano” (EN: “I, the Captain”), made by Matteo Garrone; “Finalmente l’Alba” (EN: “Dawn, at last”), by Saverio Costanzo; “Enea” (EN: “Aeneas”), by Pietro Castellitto; “Lubo”, made by Giorgio Diritti and “Adagio” by Stefano Sollima.
Seven others of the participating films come from the United States: “Origin”, by Ava DuVernay; “The Killer” by David Fincher; “Priscilla” by Sofia Coppola; “Maestro” by Bradley Cooper; “Ferrari” by Michael Mann; “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos; “Memory”, by Michael Franco. The other films in the competition are: “Bastarden” (EN: “The Promised Land”), by Nikolaj Arcel; “Dogman”, by Luc Besson; “La Bete” (EN: “The Beast”), by Bertrand Bonello; “Hors-Saison” (EN: “Out of Season”), by Stéphane Brizé; “Aku wa Sonzai Shinai” (EN: “Evil Does Not Exist”), by Ryusuke Hamaguchi; “Zielona granica” (EN: “Green Border”), by Agnieszka Holland; “Die theorie von allem” (EN: “The Theory of Everyhing”), by Timm Kroger; “El Conde”, by Pablo Larraín; “Kobieta Z” (EN: “Woman Of”), by Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert; “Holly”, by Fien Troch.
Among the most awaited films we can find “The Killer” by David Fincher, adaptation of a comic strip with Michael Fassbender, “Dogman” by Luc Besson, and the science-fiction “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos.
But the kermess is also an occasion for several collateral events, which will take place between the Lido area and Venice, which these days will be full of actors, celebrities and VIPs from all over the world. These events will space from Armani’s fashion show at the reopening of the historic Hotel des Bains in the Lido area, through the Amfar charity gala and up to Variety magazine’s party.