Venice Film Festival opens fall season with starry lineup

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will open on September 2, bringing Hollywood stars, international auteurs and a slate of potential awards contenders to the Lido as the autumn festival season gets underway. Organised by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera, the festival runs through September 12.

Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, George Clooney, Penélope Cruz and the Gallagher brothers, Noel and Liam, are among the names expected on the Lido. Clooney will also receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, while Ellen Burstyn is the other recipient of the festival’s lifetime honour.

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But the festival’s appeal this year extends beyond its red carpets. Several films arrive with subjects rooted firmly in contemporary politics and public life, including Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary “Musk”, which examines the life and influence of Elon Musk.

Gibney, the Oscar-winning documentarian behind films including “Taxi to the Dark Side” and “Citizenfour”, spent years developing the project. The film is expected to be one of the festival’s most closely watched documentaries, particularly given Musk’s extraordinary political and business influence in recent years. Musk has described the film as a “hit piece”.

Another major documentary addition is “NAZA”, directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who were among the directors of the 2025 Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land”. The film, produced by The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films, will compete for the Golden Lion and premiere on September 10.

“NAZA” examines the Israeli military’s targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, drawing on investigative reporting by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call. It is the only documentary feature in the 21-film Venezia 83 competition.

The competition also brings a strong selection of international filmmakers. Danny Boyle’s “Ink”, starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, will open the festival in competition on September 2. Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine”, Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard”, Florian Zeller’s “Bunker” and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back” are among the other competition titles.

Hollywood’s awards-season ambitions are evident in several of the high-profile projects. Pattinson stars in Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime”, playing Chris Hansen, while Penélope Cruz appears opposite Javier Bardem in Zeller’s “Bunker”. Rooney Mara is among the cast of Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard”.

The festival will also host the world premiere of the Oasis documentary “Oasis: Supersonic?”—bringing Noel and Liam Gallagher to Venice as the brothers continue their return to the stage and public spotlight. The appearance adds a distinctly pop-cultural strand to a festival otherwise dominated by auteur cinema and awards-season speculation.

Yet Venice enters the season with questions beyond individual films. The festival’s competition continues to face scrutiny over gender representation. Only one of the 21 competition films is directed by a woman, despite the festival’s earlier commitment to improving the balance. The competition jury, chaired by filmmaker and actor Maggie Gyllenhaal, includes Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To.