Correction: Despite their initial story, Variety now say that Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" will not be playing Venice. Apologies for the misleading info. Looks like NYFF or Fantastic Fest are still in the game.
After something of a wild goose chase (see above), the Venice line-up was announced this morning on the festival's official site, and although somewhat given away by the TIFF announcement a few days back, the big ticket is "To The Wonder," the second film in two years from anti-prolific auteur Terrence Malick. The film stars Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Barry Pepper, Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, the latter of whom also features in another big premiere, starring alongside Noomi Rapace in Brian DePalma's latest, "Passion." The U.S. line-up is also completed by Ramin Bahrani's "At Any Price," with Zac Efron and Dennis Quaid, and in a surprise move, Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers," with James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez.
Films from high-profile international auteurs in competition also include "Something In The Air," the latest from "Carlos" director Olivier Assayas, Takeshi Kitano's "Outrage: Beyond" and Brillante Mendoza's second film of the year, the heretofore-unknown "Thy Womb." Ulrich Seidl, whose "Paradise: Love" premiered in competition at Cannes this year, has its follow-up in Venice too, with "Paradise: Faith," and Kim Ki-duk returns with "Pieta." The home crowd are represented by Marco Bellocchio's "Dormant Beauty," (with Isabelle Huppert), Daniele Cipri's "E' stato il figlio" and Francesca Comencini's "Un Giorno Speciale."
And there are also films from Israel, with Rama and Yigal Bursztyn's "Fill The Void"; France, with Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth's "La Cinquieme Saison" and Xavier Giannoli's "Superstar"; Portugal, with "Linhas De Wellington," by Valeria Sarmiento (and also starring Huppert); and Russia, with Kirill Serebrennikov's "Betrayal."
As for the out-of-competition films, the most high-profile is probably Robert Redford's starry thriller "The Company You Keep," while there's also new documentaries from Michael Mann, Jonathan Demme and Spike Lee (his Michael Jackson doc "Bad 25"). The latest from centenarian Manoel De Olivera is also in competition, along with U.S. indies "Disconnect," with Alexander Skarsgard, and "The Iceman," with Michael Shannon, while Pierce Brosnan stars in Susanne Bier's "All You Need Is Love." And genre fans get China's "Tai Chi 0" and Australia's "Shark (Bait 3D)." Oh, and a four-hour picture called "Penance" from "Pulse" director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Awesome.
Among the notable absences (although it's worth noting the closing film hasn't yet been announced) was the hotly tipped "Anna Karenina," which won't be world premiering in TIFF — with a September 7th opening in the U.K, perhaps it's skipping the festival circuit entirely? Other hot tips that haven't yet been announced include Nicolas Winding Refn's "Only God Forgives" and Bahman Ghobadi's "Rhinos Season"
Still, it's a firmly exciting line-up even without those aforementioned films, and like last year, we'll be there across the fest with coverage of all the big premieres. The festival kicks off on August 29th with Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," and closes up on September 8th. Check back for our verdicts, and read on below for the full line-up.
Opening Film (Out Of Competition)
"The Reluctant Fundamentalist," Mira Nair (U.S.,Qatar)
Competition
"To The Wonder," Terrence Malick (U.S.)
"Something in the Air," Olivier Assayas (France)
"Outrage:Beyond," Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
"Fill The Void," Rama Bursztyn and Yigal Bursztyn (Israel)
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk (South Korea)
"Dormant Beauty," Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
"E' stato il figlio," Daniele Cipri (Italy)
"At Any Price," Ramin Bahrani (US, UK)
"La Cinquieme Saison," Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth (Belgium, Netherlands, France)
"Un Giorno Speciale, " Francesca Comencini (Italy)
"Passion," Brian De Palma (France, Germany)
"Superstar, " Xavier Giannoli (France, Belgium)
"Spring Breakers," Harmony Korine (US)
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)
"Linhas de Wellington," Valeria Sarmiento (Portugal, France)
"Paradise: Faith," Ulrich Seidl (Austria, France, Germany)
"Betrayal," Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)
Out Of Competition
"L’homme qui rit," Jean-Pierre Ameris (France-Czech Republic)
"Love Is All You Need," Susanne Bier (Denmark-Sweden)
"Cherchez Hortense", Pascal Bonitzer (France)
"Sur un fil…," Simon Brook (France-Italy)
"Enzo Avitabile Music Life," Jonathan Demme (Italy-US)
"Tai Chi 0," Stephen Fung (China)
"Lullaby To My Father," Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Switzerland)
"Penance" (Shokuzai), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)
"Bad 25," Spike Lee (US)
"O Gebo e a Sombra," Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal-France)
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford (US)
"Shark (Bait 3D)," Kimble Rendall (Australia-Singapore-China)
"Disconnect," Henry-Alex Rubin (US)
"The Iceman," Ariel Vromen (US)
Out Of Competition: Special Events
"Anton’s Right Here" dir Lyubov Arkus (Russia)
"It Was Better Tomorrow" dir Hinde Boujemaa (Tunisia)
"Clarisse," Liliana Cavani (Italy)
"Sfiorando il muro," Silvia Giralucci and Luca Ricciardi (Italy)
"Carmel," Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Italy)
"El impenetrable," Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini (Argentina-France)
"Witness: Libya," Michael Mann (US)
"Medici con l’Africa," Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
"La nave dolce," Daniele Vicari (Italy-Albania)
Orrizonti (Horizons)
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia-Germany)
"The Paternal House," Kianoosh Ayari (Iran)
"I Also Want It", Alexey Balabanov (Russia)
"Gli Equilibristi," Ivano De Matteo (Italy-France)
"L’intervallo," Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy-Switzerland-Germany)
"Winter of Discontent," Ibrahim El Batout (Egypt)
"Tango Libre," Frederic Fonteyne (Belgium-France-Luxembourg)
"The Cutoff Man", dir Idan Hubel (Israel)
"Fly With The Crane," Li Ruijun (China)
"A Hijacking," Tobias Lindholm (Denmark)
"Leones," Jazmin Lopez (Argentina-France-Netherlands)
"Bellas Mariposas," Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
"Low Tide," Roberto Minervini (US-Italy-Belgium)
"Boxing Day," Bernard Rose (UK-US)
"Yema," Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-France)
"Araf – Somewhere In Between," Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey-France-Germany)
"The Millennial Rapture," Koji Wakamatsu (Japan)
"Three Sisters," Wang Bing (France-Hong Kong-China)
"Thy Womb" wasn't "heretofore-unknown." The Filipino media has been following it fairly closely, probably because its star (Nora Aunor) is something of a living legend there. It was in the news earlier this week because the Metro Manila Film Festival rejected it. There's some production featurettes (not English-friendly) on Youtube if you care to look.
Kurosawa's "Penance" is a TV miniseries that aired in January-February, and was previously known as "Shokuzai" in lieu of an official English title. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but English fansubs for the entire series have been floating around for awhile.
If they're not showing Only God Forgives & The Master then I don't care.
What a disappointing line-up at Venice compared to last year. Funny hat TIFF's list is so much better than last year
Horrid line-up, wow. Shocked at the absence of Anna Karenina and The Master.
That is one shitty lineup so far. Looks like TIFF's where it's at this year.
There will be a "surprise film" also in competition. According to what Venice director said ("you will be very satisfied"), I think it could be THE MASTER or ONLY GOD FORGIVES.
OK, I'm sorry. Apparently it was Variety's mistake.
It could always happen: secret screening…! 😀
Yeah, it looks like you had this prepared and LOL.
Only in The Playlist.
The Master isn't even mentioned in the Variety article, or on the Venice Film Festival official website?!