Venice Film Festival to open with stars, Oscar buzz

VENICE

After a relatively quiet August for Hollywood glamour, the Venice Film Festival is ready to launch the fall film festival season with a star-studded lineup, major Oscar contenders and documentaries tackling Elon Musk, Russia and the war in Gaza.

The 83rd edition of the festival opens on Sept. 2 on the Lido, with stars including Noel and Liam Gallagher, Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, George Clooney and Penélope Cruz expected on the red carpet.

But while Hollywood glamour remains a major attraction, this year’s festival is also drawing attention for politically charged documentaries and a notable gender imbalance in its main competition.

One of the most anticipated films is Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary about Elon Musk, which has been in production for almost four years.

Musk has called the film a “hit piece” on social media, while Gibney said he initially approached the project as an admirer of Musk and a Tesla owner. Musk ultimately declined to participate. “Ultimately, he didn’t want to talk to me,” Gibney told The Associated Press.

Gibney said his research led him to challenge the image of Musk as a modern-day Leonardo da Vinci. Instead, he described the Tesla and SpaceX chief as “a confidence man.”

The filmmakers interviewed hundreds of people on and off the record. Gibney said he was particularly struck by the number of people who appeared afraid to speak publicly about Musk, including some of his supporters.

Another major documentary is Julia Loktev’s “My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile,” which follows independent Russian journalists who fled the country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The nearly six-hour film continues Loktev’s portrait of journalists who chose exile rather than stop reporting on the war or face imprisonment. The story unfolds over four years, during which exile becomes increasingly permanent.

The war in Gaza is also represented through “NAZA,” a late addition to the competition from two filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land.”

Unlike last year, no major protests are planned at the festival. However, the Venice4Palestine group has called on organizers to suspend agreements with entities linked to the Israeli government and has requested that the Palestinian flag be flown throughout the festival.

Hollywood eyes the Oscars

Venice is traditionally an important stop on the road to the Academy Awards, with films premiering at the festival often becoming major Oscar contenders. Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents in the 1970s, is among the films attracting awards attention.

Florian Zeller returns with “Bunker,” a psychological thriller starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, while Danny Boyle’s “Ink” explores a turning point in tabloid media.

There is also considerable interest in Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime,” starring Robert Pattinson and examining reality television culture in the early 2000s.

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda will premiere “Look Back,” about two girls from a small town who dream of becoming manga artists. Korean director Lee Chang-dong returns with “Possible Love,” exploring labor and freedom through two married couples.

This year, however, Venice arrives at a moment when Hollywood appears less dependent on the prestige of international festivals. The U.S. industry has just experienced one of its strongest summer box offices, while the reigning best picture winner, “One Battle After Another,” skipped the festival circuit entirely.

The festival is also facing renewed criticism over the lack of women directors in its main competition. Only one of the competition films is directed by a woman: Danish-Egyptian filmmaker May El-Toukhy.

The situation echoes 2018, when the festival pledged to have at least half of its competition films directed by women by 2020. That target has still not been achieved.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose directorial debut “The Lost Daughter” won Venice’s best screenplay award in 2021, is presiding over this year’s jury. The jury also includes Kaouther Ben Hania, whose “The Voice of Hind Rajab” won the Silver Lion last year.

Venice Days, an independent section running alongside the main festival, has a significantly stronger representation of women, with more than half of its selections directed by women.

The section opens on Sept. 2 with Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát’s English-language debut “My Notes on Mars,” starring Rupert Friend and Mackenzie Davis. The film follows a couple whose marriage is thrown into crisis when the wife, a scientist, mysteriously disappears and returns on the day of her memorial service.