Not many surprises when it comes to this year’s Venice Film Festival, but a 23-film competition??! I guess they really couldn’t sacrifice one of the American productions and just jammed all of them in there.
23 films from … 7 countries?!! That’s Venice for you.
Almost everyone we predicted got in; the only unexpected titles are Vahid Jalilvand’s “Beyond the Wall,” Roschdy Zem’s “Our Ties” and Laura Poitras’ “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.”
Notable absences: the two American #MeToo films: Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” and Maria Schrader’s “She Said.” I guess Venice didn’t convince Polley to World Premiere her film there, so now the sweepstakes are between Toronto and Telluride.
Ira Sachs’ “Passages” was not mentioned either. Maybe it’s just not that good. If you remember, I had reported it was taken out of the Cannes lineup at the very last minute, replaced by another title. Now Sachs’ film will have to aim for Toronto or New York.
Non-US absences include Christophe Honore’s “Le Lycceen,” Hong Sang-soo’s “No Walks,” Amat Escalante’s “The State of the Empire,” and Fatih Akin’s “Rheingold.”
The 2022 Venice Film Festival runs August 31 to September 10. Check out the full official lineup for the festival below.
Opening Night
“White Noise,” Noah Baumbach (in competition)
Competition/Venezia 79
“Il Signore delle Formiche,” Gianni Amelio
“The Whale,” Darren Aronofsky
“L’Immensita,” Emanuele Crialese
“Saint Omer,” Alice Diop
“Blonde,” Andrew Dominik
“Tár,” Todd Field
“Love Life,” Koji Fukada
“Bardo,” Alejandro González Iñárritu
“Athena,” Romain Gavras
“Bones and All,” Luca Guadagnino
“The Eternal Daughter,” Joanna Hogg
“Beyond the Wall,” Vahid Jalilvand
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Martin McDonagh
“Argentina, 1985,” Santiago Mitre
“Chiara,” Susanna Nicchiarelli
“Monica,” Andrea Pallaoro
“No Bears,” Jafar Panahi
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras
“A Couple,” Frederick Wiseman
“The Son,” Florian Zeller
“Our Ties,” Roschdy Zem
“Other People’s Children,” Rebecca Zlotowski
Out of Competition (Fiction)
Closing Film: “The Hanging Sun,” Francesco Carrozzini
“When the Waves Are Gone,” Lav Diaz
“Living,” Oliver Hermanus
“Dead for a Dollar,” Walter Hill
“Call of God,” Kim Ki-duk
“Dreamin’ Wild,” Bill Pohlad
“Master Gardener,” Paul Schrader
“Siccita,” Paolo Virzi
“Pearl,” Ti West
“Don’t Worry Darling,” Olivia Wilde
Out of Competition (Non Fiction)
“Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom,” Evgeny Afineevsky
“The Matchmaker,” Benedetta Argentieri
“Gli Ultima Giorni Dell’Umanita,” Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo
“A Compassionate Spy,” Steve James
“Music for Black Pigeons,” Jorgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed
“The Kiev Trial,” Sergei Loznitsa
“In Viaggio,” Gianfranco Rosi
“Bobby White Ghetto President,” Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo
“Nuclear,” Oliver Stone
Out of Competition (Series)
“The Kingdom Exodus,” Lars von Trier
“Copenhagen Cowboy,” Nicolas Winding Refn
Quiver, a tiny specialty distributor that makes even Vertical and Briarcliffe look behemoth, has picked up U.S. distribution of the long-delayed film from fellow micro-indie Blue Fox.