The Venice Film Festival is the world’s oldest film festival and has been known for showcasing some of the best, with many going on to become true contenders at the Academy Awards. This year appears to be no different as the lineup this year consists of a group of films that have steadily been gaining buzz.
Joker is one of the titles that will make a showing at the festival as the film’s star, Joaquin Phoenix, is looking like he may be a contender for a Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. The film has potential too if it’s on par with Phoenix’s performance and considering it’s hitting the film festival circuit, it’s a strong possibility for the DC standalone film.
Brad Pitt’s astronaut flick, Ad Astra, is also hitting the festival as it gains momentum. The film follows similar titles at the festival such as Gravity and First Man, which went on to be strong during awards season. Pitt stars as Roy McBride, a man who ventures into the edge of the solar system in search of his long-lost father (Tommy Lee Jones) as well as to solve a mystery that threatens the survival of the human species on Earth.
Netflix is hoping to make a splash like they did last year with Roma and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story is being touted as their big-ticket this year with it drawing comparisons to Kramer vs. Kramer. The film explores a contentious divorce and child custody battle between two artists who are intent on living on opposite coasts. The film stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, & Merritt Wever. The film is also hitting the trifecta of film festivals: Venice, Telluride & Toronto.
Netflix also has a contender with Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat, starring Meryl Streep. In the film, Streep plays Ellen Martin, whose dream vacation takes a wrong turn and leads her down a rabbit hole of shady dealings that can all be traced to one Panama City law firm. The film also stars Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright, David Schwimmer, Larry Wilmore, Matthias Schoenaerts, James Cromwell & Sharon Stone.
The controversial Roman Polanski is also getting attention at the festival for his film An Officer And a Spy, which will have a red carpet premiere in Venice. Whether the film can be an Oscar contender remains to be seen. Polanski recently filed a court case to restore his membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy revoked his membership following a rewrite of their standards of conduct amid new accusations of sexual assault against the director.
Opening the festival is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth, starring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ludivine Sagnier, and Ethan Hawke. The film is Kore-eda’s followup to Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or. The Truth is a reflection on the relationship between a mother and a daughter, as well as the art of acting.
The festival has doubled the number of female directors in competition but sadly that wasn’t hard for the almost all-male lineup in recent years. Only two women made the cut this year out of a total of 21 competition films. Director Haifaa Al-Mansour, the first woman to shoot a film in Saudi Arabia, will premiere The Perfect Candidate at the festival while newcomer Shannon Murphy will showcase Babyteeth, about a sick young girl who falls in love with a drug dealer.
Jury Head Lucrecia Martel will lead a jury of international film names to bestow top prizes: the Golden Lion for best film, the Grand Special Jury Prize, the Silver Lion for best director, the Special Jury Prize, the Volpi Cup for best actor and actress, the best screenplay honor, and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor and actress.
The 76th Venice Film Festival runs August 28-September 7.
