The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will open on 2 September, bringing Hollywood stars, acclaimed filmmakers and a strong line-up of potential awards contenders to the Lido.
La Biennale di Venezia organises the festival, which Alberto Barbera directs. The event will run until 12 September and will mark the start of the autumn film festival season.
Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, George Clooney, Penélope Cruz and Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher are among the high-profile names expected to attend.
Clooney will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Ellen Burstyn will also receive the festival’s lifetime honour.
This year’s festival will offer more than red-carpet glamour. Several films focus on contemporary politics and public life, including Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary, Musk, which examines the life and influence of Elon Musk.
Gibney, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Taxi to the Dark Side and Citizenfour, spent years developing the documentary.
The film has drawn particular attention because of Musk’s significant political and business influence in recent years. Musk has described the documentary as a “hit piece”.
Another major documentary, NAZA, will compete for the Golden Lion. Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor directed the film.
They were among the directors of the 2025 Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films produced NAZA, which will premiere on 10 September.
The film examines the Israeli military’s targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and draws on investigative reporting by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call.
NAZA is the only documentary feature among the 21 films competing in the Venezia 83 section.
The competition will also feature several leading international filmmakers. Danny Boyle’s Ink, starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, will open the festival in competition on 2 September.
Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, Florian Zeller’s Bunker and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Look Back are also among the competition titles.
Several high-profile projects could also attract awards-season attention. Pattinson stars in Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime, playing Chris Hansen.
Penélope Cruz appears alongside Javier Bardem in Zeller’s Bunker, while Mara features in Herzog’s Bucking Fastard.
The festival will also host the world premiere of the Oasis documentary Oasis: Supersonic?. Noel and Liam Gallagher will attend Venice as the brothers continue their return to the stage and public spotlight.
The festival, however, faces renewed scrutiny over gender representation. Only one of the 21 competition films comes from a woman director, despite an earlier commitment to improve the balance.
Filmmaker and actor Maggie Gyllenhaal will chair the competition jury. Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To will join her on the panel.
