The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will open in Italy on September 2, launching an intense ten-day festival marked by high-profile premieres and industry controversies.
Organizers of the festival, also known as the Mostra, face scrutiny after selecting only one female director out of 20 in the main competition, choosing Egyptian filmmaker May el-Toukhy for her feature film Woman Unknown.
Festival organizers stated that selectors moved away from gender quotas to evaluate submissions strictly on artistic merit after years of yielding to feminist pressure. Artistic director Alberto Barbera defended the decision to journalists, saying selectors made an honest effort to find strong films directed by women, but found this year's applications from female directors inexplicably weak.
DAU Project Controversy and EU Funding Cut
A secondary scandal is building over the main competition entry of the newest installment of the DAU project by filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky, who is recognized as a foreign agent in Russia. The festival selected the chronologically initial segment of Khrzhanovsky's massive film project centered on theoretical physicist Lev Landau.
The project previously sparked severe backlash at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, where installment episodes titled Natasha and Degeneration were screened. Following those screenings, a large group of Russian film critics issued a formal protest against showing a work that they said violated ethical filmmaking standards.
The choice by Venice management to show the new installment has triggered harsh criticism from international media. The controversy prompted the European Union to reduce its funding for the Venice Biennale by two million euros.
Main Competition Premieres and Red Carpet Stars
The festival opens with the premiere of Ink, a drama about the culture of British tabloid journalism directed by Danny Boyle and starring Guy Pearce and Jack O'Connell. Directors competing for the top Golden Lion prize include film veterans Werner Herzog, Martin McDonagh, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nanni Moretti, and Florian Zeller.
Out of competition screenings include an investigative documentary about billionaire Elon Musk directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, alongside Paul Schrader's tense drama Basics of Philosophy.
Jury Leadership and Lifetime Achievement Honors
An international jury chaired by American actress Maggie Gyllenhaal will decide the awards for the main competition before the event closes on September 12.
Promised red carpet guests include Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Guy Pearce, Chiara Mastroianni, and Louis Garrel. Meanwhile, actors Ellen Burstyn and George Clooney will arrive to receive honorary Golden Lions recognizing their lifetime contributions to cinema.
