Word is trickling out that Laura Poitras is set to return to the Venice Film Festival competition lineup this year with a brand new documentary. The film, shrouded in mystery, reportedly wasn’t on any radars, with even the most well-connected completely unaware that Poitras had anything in the works.
In a year where most of the lineup has already begun to leak in drips and drabs, this one feels like a genuine surprise. If you remember, Poitras stunned the Lido in 2022 with “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” which followed artist and activist Nan Goldin’s crusade against the Sackler family. The film won the coveted Golden Lion, making it only the second documentary to do so in the festival’s 80+ year history.
That win wasn’t just symbolic, it signaled that Venice, under Alberto Barbera, was willing to take bold risks in its top prize selections. As for this new project, no title or subject matter has leaked so far, which is increasingly rare in the modern festival ecosystem. Given Poitras’ track record, especially her deep dives into surveillance (“Citizenfour”) and political resistance (“Risk”), one imagines the film will again ruffle some feathers.
It was actually back in 2022, while she was screening ‘All the Beauty’ at Toronto and Venice, that Poitras slammed both festivals for “whitewashing” and “providing a platform” to Hilary Clinton who had been invited at those fests to screen her Apple TV+ doc, “Gutsy.” Ironically enough, Poitras might be invited to both fests this fall to screen her her new film.
When pressed for a production date or a concrete plan for this reunion with Gosling, Refn played coy. He compared the mystery of the project to a Christmas present.