New Films From Terry Gilliam, Hayao Miyazaki, David Gordon Green & Jonathan Glazer Top 70th Venice Film Festival Line-Up

After a weighty first announcement for this year’s TIFF earlier in the week, eyes turned across the Atlantic this morning to the reveal of the line-up for the 70th Venice Film Festival, which precedes Toronto by about a week. We already knew the festival was opening with Alfonso Cuaron‘s hotly-anticipated 3D space adventure “Gravity,” and an educated guess at the line-up could be made from looking at which films among the TIFF announcement weren’t world premieres, but the official roster was revealed at a press conference in Rome this morning, and it’s once more, a doozy.

As expected, Terry Gilliam‘s latest fantasy “The Zero Theorem,” starring Christoph Waltz, will premiere in competition, and it’s joined by another hotly-tipped title, “Under The Skin,” the return of “Sexy Beast” and “Birth” director Jonathan Glazer with his first film in nine years. Other English-language filmmakers in the line-up include James Franco with his Cormac McCarthy adaptation “Child Of God,” Australian helmer John Curran with “Tracks,” starring Mia Wasikowska and Adam Driver, Stephen Frears‘ “Philomena” with Judi Dench, David Gordon Green‘s Nicolas Cage-starring “Joe,” Errol Morris‘ Donald Rumsfeld documentary “The Unknown Known,” and Kelly Reichardt‘s “Night Moves” with Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning. The Tom Hanks-produced JFK drama “Parkland” is also in competition.

The biggest international filmmaker is undoubtedly Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki, whose “The Wind Rises” gets its international premiere (a rarity in not being a world premiere in the Venice line-up) in competition. Joining him is Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan making his Venice debut with “Tom A La Ferme,” while festival favorites Philippe Garrel, Amos Gitai and Tsai Ming-Liang are among the big international filmmakers also debuting films.

Out of competition, last year’s Golden Lion winner Kim Ki-Duk returns with “Moebius,” while “Eastern Promises” writer Steven Knight returns only a few months after his first directorial effort “Hummingbird” with “Locke,” a thriller starring Tom Hardy and shot in one take. There’s also the premiere of the Ken Watanabe-starring “Unforgiven” remake, Greg McLean‘s horror sequel “Wolf Creek 2,” Andrez Wajda‘s “Walesa,” documentaries from Alex Gibney and Frederick Wiseman, and a new 26 minute short from “Tabu” director Miguel Gomes.

Meanwhile, the Orrizonti strand has a few big names too, with Lukas Moodysson‘s “We Are The Best!,” Gia Coppola‘s adaptation of James Franco‘s “Palo Alto,” Sion Sono‘s “Why Don’t You Play In Hell,” and horror helmer Ti West‘s “The Sacrament.” Not (yet) anywhere in the line-up, despite being hotly tipped, are Paul Greengrass‘ “Captain Phillips” and Spike Lee’s “Oldboy,” but it’s worth remembering that “The Master” was added to the line-up after the fact last year. We’ll be adding the full festival line-up below momentarily, or you can check it out over at the official Venice site. The festival kicks off on August 28th through September 7th, and we’ll be there again to bring you our verdicts on as many of the above as we can get in our eyes. 

In Competition:

“Es-Stouh” (dir. Merzak Allouache) – Algeria/France
“L”Intrepido” (dir. Gianni Amelio) – Italy
“Miss Violence” (dir. Alexandros Avranas) – Greece
“Tracks” (dir. John Curran) – UK/Australia
“Via Castellana Bandiera” (dir. Emma Dante) – Italy/Switzerland/France
“Tom A La Ferme” (dir. Xavier Dolan) – Canada/France
“Child Of God” (dir. James Franco) – USA
“Philomena” (dir. Stephen Frears) – UK
“La Jalousie” (dir. Philippe Garrel) – France
“The Zero Theorem” (dir. Terry Gilliam) – UK/USA
“Ana Arabia” (dir. Amos Gitai) – Israel/France
“Under The Skin” (dir. Jonathan Glazer) – UK/USA
“Joe” (dir. David Gordon Green) – USA
“Die Frau Des Polizisten” (dir. Philip Groning) – Germany
“Parkland” (dir. Peter Landesman) – USA
“The Wind Rises” (dir. Hayao Miyazaki) – Japan
“The Unknown Known: The Life & Times Of Donald Rumsfeld” (dir. Errol Morris) – USA
“Night Moves” (dir. Kelly Reichardt) – USA
“Sacro Gra” (dir. Gianfranco Rosi) – Italy
“Stray Dogs” (dir. Tsai Ming-Liang) – Chinese Taipei/France

Out Of Competition:

“Space Pirate Captain Harlock” (dir. Shinji Aramaki) – Japan
“Gravity” (dir. Alfonso Cuaron) – USA
“Summer 82 When Zappa Came To Sicily” (dir. Salvo Cuccia) – Italy/USA
“Pine Ridge” (dir. Anna Eborn) – Denmark
“The Armstrong Lie” (dir. Alex Gibney) – USA
“Redemption” (dir. Miguel Gomes) – Portugal (short)
“Ukraine Is Not A Brothel” (dir. Kitty Green) – Australia
“Moebius” (dir. Kim Ki-Duk) – South Korea
“Locke” (dir. Steven Knight) – UK
“Unforgiven” (dir. Lee Sang-Il) – Japan
“Wolf Creek 2” (dir. Greg McLean) – Australia
“Amazonia” (dir. Thierry Ragobert) – France/Brazil
“Home From Home; Chronicle Of A Vision” (dir. Edgar Reitz) – Germany
“The Canyons” (dir. Paul Schrader) – USA
“Che Strano Chiamarsi Federico: Scola Racconta Fellini” (dir. Ettore Scola) – Italy
“Walesa: Man Of Hope” (dir. Andrzej Wajd, Ewa Brodzka) – Poland
“Til Madness Do Us Part” (dir. Wang Bing) – Hong Kong, France, Japan
“At Berkeley” (dir. Frederick Wiseman) – USA

Orrizonti

“Little Brother” (dir. Serik Aprymov) – Kazakhstan
“Il Terzo Tempo” (dir. Enrico Maria Artale) – Italy
“Je M’Appelle Hmmm…” (dir. Agnes B) – France
“Eastern Boys” (dir. Robin Campillo) – France
“Palo Alto” (dir. Gia Coppola) – USA
“Ruin” (dir. Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Michael Cody) – Australia
“Fish & Cat” (dir. Shahram Mokri) – Iran
“We Are The Best!” (dir. Lukas Moodysson) – Sweden/Denmark
“Wolfschildren” (dir. Rick Ostermann) – Germany
“La Vida Despues” (dir. David Pablos) – Mexico
“Algunas Chicas” (dir. Santiago Palavecino) – Argentina
“Medeas” (dir. Andrea Pallaoro) – USA/Italy
“Still Life” (dir. Uberto Pasolini) – UK
“Piccola Patria” (dir. Alessandro Rossetto) – Italy
“La Prima Neve” (dir. Andrea Segre) – Italy
“Why Don’t You Play In Hell?” (dir. Sono Sion) – Japan
“The Sacrament” (dir. Ti West) – USA

Venice Classics

“Hotel Monterey” & “Le 14 D’Aout” (dir. Chantal Akerman) – Belgium
“Little Fugitive” (1953) (dir. Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin) – USA
“Bread & Chocolate” (1974) (dir. Franco Brusati) – Italy
“Comrades: Almost A Love Story” (1996) (dir. Peter Ho-Sun Chan) – Hong Kong
“A Bullet For The General” (1966) (dir. Damiani Damiani) – Italy
“My Darling Clementine” (1946) (dir. John Ford) – USA
“Sorcerer” (1977) (dir. William Friedkin) – USA
“My Friend Ivan Lapshin” (1984) (dir. Aleksey German Sr.) – USSR
Do You Remember Dolly Bell?” (1981) (dir. Emir Kusturica) – Bosnia & Herzegovina
“White Rock” (1977) (dir. Tony Maylam) – UK
“The Shape Of NIght” (1964) (Dir. Noboru Nakamura) – Japan
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (1983) (dir. Nagisa Oshima) – Japan/UK
“Equinox Flower” (1958) (dir. Yasujiro Ozu) – Japan
“The Treasure” (1973) (dir. Lester James Peries) – Sri Lanka
“Property Is No Longer A Theft” (1973) (dir. Elio Petri) – Italy
“The Most Dangerous Game” (1932) (dir. Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack) – USA
“The Coward”/”The Holy Man” (1965) (dir. Satyajit Ray) – India
“La Bete Humaine” (1938) (dir. Jean Renoir) – France
“Providence” (1977) (dir. Alain Resnais) – France/Switzerland/UK
“Hands Over The City” (1963) (dir. Francesco Rosi) – Italy/France
“Paisan” (1946) (dir. Roberto Rossellini) – Italy
“Tosca’s Kiss” (1984) (dir. Daniel Schmid) – Switzerland/Italy
“Vague Stars Of Ursa” (1965) (dir. Luchino Visconti) – Italy
“Let’s Get Lost’ (1988) (dir. Bruce Weber) – USA
“Mysterious Object At Noon” (2000) (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) – Thailand/Netherlands