The usual names mentioned have been spitballed by Screen International in their Venice Film Festival predictions. A little early, especially with Cannes Film Festival still going on as we speak, but below is what’s shaping up.
By all accounts, David Fincher’s “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” will be the big American title. I’m also thinking Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades” might be there, unless he opts to go to New York Film Festival again — if you remember, Venice actually rejected his last film, The Tragedy of Macbeth, back in 2021. Then you probably have Tom Ford’s “Cry to Heaven,” Paul Schrader’s “The Basics of Philosophy,” which was already accepted, and Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” rejected by Cannes and now in the Venice competition.
I’d guesstimate that, year to year, 30–40% of the films playing in the Venice competition were initially rejected by Cannes, but some of them turn out to be huge on the Lido — I’m thinking of Golden Lion winners from Jim Jarmusch (“Father Mother Sister Brother”) and Audrey Diwan (“Happening”).
This year, films that failed to make Cannes but are Venice-bound include Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” Stéphane Brizé’s “A Good Little Soldier,” and Cédric Kahn’s “15/18” — those three have already been accepted by fest boss Alberto Barbera.
Screen actually mentions Tom McCarthy’s “The Statement” as a possibility. It was shot in February. The film stars Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, John Turturro, Tatiana Maslany, Amy Ryan, and Jason Clarke. McCarthy premiered Spotlight at Venice 2015, and we all know what happened after that. US titles likely not going — Werwulf, Dune, Digger, The Social Reckoning, I Play Rocky, No One Cares, Death of a Salesman, Saturn Return, Whalefall, Onslaught, October, The Uprising, A Place in Hell, Sweetsick, and Animals
As for the non-U.S. filmmakers, there are quite a few notable names this year, including Mike Leigh, Lee Chang-dong, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Michel Franco, and Andrew Haigh.
VENICE COMPETITION CONTENDERS:
The Adventures of Cliff Booth (David Fincher)
Jack of Spades (Joel Coen)
Tender Loving Care (Mike Leigh)
Possible Love (Lee Chang-Dong)
Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh)
Cry to Heaven (Tom Ford)
Look Back (Hirokazu Koreeda)
The Basics of Philosophy (Paul Schrader)
A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
Circles (Michel Franco)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
Trick (Mario Martone)
15/18 (Cedric Kahn)
Bunker (Florian Zeller)
A Good Little Soldier (Stephane Brizé)
Cabula (Lila Aviles)
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
Switzerland (Anton Corbijn)
It Will Happen Tonight (Nanni Moretti)
Mimesis (Kaouther Ben Hania)
Après (Kirill Serebrenikko)
The Echo Chamber (Andrea Pallaoro)
Let Love In (Felix Van Groeningen)
Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
Here Comes the Flood (Fernando Mereilles)
The Statement (Tom McCarthy)
MORE …
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
Après (Kirill Serebrenikko)
Untitled Musical (Aleksandr Sokurov)
Elon (Alex Gibney)
Ang Kawalan (Lav Diaz)
Dr. Albertini’s Office (Emmanuel Mouret)
Leila Et La Nuit (Fellipe Barbosa)
Chork (Shane Meadows)
At the Middle of Life (Hong Sang-soo)
A Woman Unknown (May el-Toukhy)
The First Taste of Loneliness (Gu You)
Alpha Gang (David & Nathan Zellner)
Bad Lieutenant (Takashi Miike)
Peaches (Jenny Suen)
Violence du Corp de l’Autre (Denis Côté)
My Notes on Mars (Lily Horvat)
Une Autre Histoire (Mikhael Hers)
The Idiots (Malgorzata Szumowska & Michal Englert)
The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands (Nathalie Álvarez Mesén)
ITALIAN FILMS
Bianco (Daniele Vicari)
No Pain (Gianni Amelio)
I’m Still Alive (Roberto Saviano)
When one amigo gets hit, the other two show up. That's been the deal for three decades between Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, and it's playing out in real time this weekend