From August 30, the 80th Venice International Film Festival 2023, scheduled to run until September 9, will begin. Tickets for screenings will be available only from August 11, but in the meantime it is best to study the program for the public, which has just been announced.

The opening film of the Competition, Tuesday, Aug. 30, is Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandate starring Pierfrancesco Favino, which takes the place of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, postponed to 2024 because of the ongoing actors’ and screenwriters’ strike in Hollywood. On the same day, Liliana Cavani’s L’ordine del tempo, this edition’s Golden Lion, will be screened Out of Competition.

The other Italian films in competition: Matteo Garrone’s Io capitano, Saverio Costanzo’s Finalmente l’alba, Giorgio Diritti’s Lubo, Pietro Castellitto’s Enea and Stefano Sollima’s Adagio. In the Orizzonti category, however, we highlight Enrico Maria Artale’s El Paraíso, presented at MIA in 2022 in What’s Next Italy.

Despite the tensions agitating the overseas film scene, the presence of all the other American films in Competition is confirmed, as clarified by Festival director Alberto Barbera, who adds that “there will obviously be some stars missing, but it will not be a cleared red carpet, the actors who have worked on totally independent productions will be present, which are many.”

In Competition, along with the Italian films: Maestro, the biopic directed by and starring Bradley Cooper; Priscilla by Sofia Coppola; Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos (starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo); Ferrari by Michael Mann (starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz); The Killer the new thriller by David Fincher (starring Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton); Origin by Ava DuVernay; Memory by Michel Franco.

While out of competition will be, among others, Coup de chance, Woody Allen’s new film, in French and with filming taking place entirely in Paris; Roman Polański’s The Palace; The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Wes Anderson’s short film (starring Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley); and Richard Linklater’s Hit Man.

The audience program is available here.

Photo Credits: Pxhere