It’s become a monthly thing to update my Venice predictions. This latest list might be the final one, unless I hear of more intel coming in the next few weeks. The entire lineup is set to be announced on July 23.
On Wednesday, Michel Franco said his upcoming “Dreams” might not be ready on time for the Lido. He’s still editing the film, which stars Jessica Chastain. We might have to scratch that one off.
More bad news for Venice head Alberto Barbera came when Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” was officially announced to world premiere at London BFI in late October. It’s one of the most anticipated titles of the fall, but will be getting a more low-key unveiling than previously expected.
Despite these absences, Barbera got a much-needed surprise in the form of Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door,” which, after shooting earlier this year, is already set to launch in the fall. A world premiere on the Lido is practically a no-brainer.
Tom Tykwer's “The Light” is 3 hours and tipped to be in competition. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Tykwer’s “Run Lola Run,” and its theatrical re-release was met with numerous think-pieces looking back on the film’s lasting impact. The German filmmaker will be capping off his busy year with what’s being dubbed as his “comeback” film.
The Abdellatif Kechiche rumors are back, and with a vengeance … Don’t be surprised if the controversial Tunisian filmmaker premieres “Mektoub: Canto Duo” on the Lido. It’s now been mentioned by two separate sources. Apparently, he declined Cannes and instead opted for Venice. I’ve added him to my final predictions.
LATEST VENICE COMPETITION PREDICTIONS:
Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer”
Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door”
Pablo Larrain’s “Maria”
Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie a Deux”
Lucrecia Martel’s “Chocobar”
Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths”
Walter Salles’s “I’m Still Here”
Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hands of Dante”
Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma’s “And Their Children After Them”
Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist”
Justin Kurzel’s “The Order”
Xavier Beauvois’ “La Vallée des Fous”
Pietro Marcello’s “Duze”
Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Mektoub: Canto Duo”
Sebastian Lelio’s “The Wave”
Delphine and Muriel Coulin’s “The Quiet Son”
Tom Tykwer’s “The Light”
Emmanuel Mouret’s “Une Chose et Son Contraire”
Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “Those Who Find Me”
Maura Delpero’s “The Mountain Bride”
Yeo Siew Hua’s “Stranger Eyes”
That’s 20 titles, two of them are Italian (Delpero and Marcello). There are usually 4-5 Italian films that crack the competition. I figure the following are top contenders …
Gianni Amelio’s “Battlefield”
Gabriele Salvatores’ “Napoli”
Marco Tullio Giordana’s “The Life Apart”
Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza’s “Iddu”
Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return”
Paolo Gep Cucco and Davide Livermore’s “The Opera!”
Non-Italian possibilities for Venice …
Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind”
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud”
Rodrigo Prieto’s “Pedro Paramo”
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “Harvest”
RaMell Ross’ “The Nickel Boys”
Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End”
Andrew Patterson’s “The Rivals of Amziah King”
Jon Watts’ “Wolfs”
David Gordon Green’s “Nutcrackers”
Jeremy Saulnier’s “Rebel Ridge”
Wei Shujun’s “Untitled”
Aleksandre Koberidze avec David Koberidze’s “Dry Leaf”
Malcolm Washington’s “The Piano Lesson”
Robert Zemeckis’ “Here”
Harmony Korine’s “Baby Invasion”
Kirill Serebrennikov’s “The Disappearance”
Wei Shuju’s “Sunshine Club”
Hikmat Rahimov’s “Apathy”
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.