 2023 official poster byLorenzo Mattotti | |
| Opening film | Comandante |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Society of the Snow |
| Location | Venice,Italy |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Awards | Golden Lion: Poor Things |
| Hosted by | Caterina Murino |
| Artistic director | Alberto Barbera |
| Festival date | 30 August – 9 September 2023 |
| Website | www |
| Venice Film Festival chronology | |
The80th annualVenice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2023, atVenice Lido inItaly.
Alberto Barbera, Venice's artistic director, acknowledged that the2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was likely to impact the festival if it was not resolved in time, due to the strike rules that prevent all actors from taking part in any kind of promotional activities for their films. Nevertheless, the festival proceeded though fewer Hollywood celebrities than usual were in attendance, while an increase of European titles in all sections was expected. The world premieres of some upcoming award season hot titles expected to premiere at Venice, such asEthan Coen'sDrive-Away-Dolls, ended up delayed.[1] As the strike was ongoing, some American films announced the absence of the cast in the red carpet of their world premieres, includingBradley Cooper, director/writer/producer and actor ofMaestro.[2]
American filmmakerDamien Chazelle served as Jury President for the main competition.[3] Italian actressCaterina Murino hosted the opening and closing nights of the festival. TheGolden Lion was awarded toPoor Things byYorgos Lanthimos.[4]
Italian directorLiliana Cavani and Chinese/Hong Kong actorTony Leung Chiu-wai were both awarded with theGolden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the festival.[5][6]
The festival opened withComandante byEdoardo De Angelis.[7]Luca Guadagnino'sChallengers was originally scheduled to have its world premiere as the festival's opening film,[8][9][10] butMGM/Amazon chose to withdraw it and delay its release due to the ongoing2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[11]J. A. Bayona'sSociety of the Snow was the closing film.[12]
The following films were selected for the main competition:[15][16]
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:[15]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction | |||
| Aggro Dr1ft | Harmony Korine | United States | |
| The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | William Friedkin | ||
| Coup de chance | Woody Allen | France, United Kingdom | |
| Daaaaaalí! | Quentin Dupieux | France | |
| Hit Man | Richard Linklater | United States | |
| The Order of Time | L'ordine del tempo | Liliana Cavani | Italy, Belgium |
| Making Of | Cédric Kahn | France | |
| On the Pulse | Vivants | Alix Delaporte | France, Belgium |
| The Palace | Roman Polanski | Italy, Switzerland, Poland, France | |
| The Penitent - A Rational Man | Luca Barbareschi | Italy | |
| Society of the Snow(closing film) | La sociedad de la nieve | J. A. Bayona | Uruguay, Spain, Chile |
| Snow Leopard | 雪豹 | Pema Tseden | China |
| The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar | Wes Anderson | United States | |
| Non Fiction | |||
| Amor | Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri | Italy, Lithuania | |
| Enzo Jannacci vengo anch'io | Giorgio Verdelli | Italy | |
| Frente a Guernica(Director's Cut) | Yervant Gianikian [it],Angela Ricci Lucchi [it] | ||
| Hollywoodgate | Ibrahim Nash'at | Germany, United States | |
| Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros | Frederick Wiseman | France, United States | |
| Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus | Neo Sora | Japan | |
| Series | |||
| I Know Your Soul(episodes 1 and 2) | Znam kako dišeš | Alen Drljević, Nemin Hamzagić | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Of Money and Blood(12 episodes) | D'argent et de sang | Xavier Giannoli, Frédéric Planchon | France |
| Short Films | |||
| Welcome to Paradise | Leonardo Di Costanzo | Italy | |
The following films were selected to have a Special Screening:[17]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lion's Share: A History of the Mostra | La parte del leone: una storia della Mostra | Baptiste Etchegaray, Giuseppe Bucchi | France, Italy |
The following films were selected to theOrizzonti main competition:[15]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behind the Mountains | Oura el jbel | Mohamed Ben Attia | Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar |
| City of Wind | Сэр сэр салхи | Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | France, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar |
| Dormitory | Yurt | Nehir Tuna | Turkey, Germany, France |
| El paraíso | Enrico Maria Artale | Italy | |
| An Endless Sunday | Una sterminata domenica | Alain Parroni | Italy, Germany, Ireland |
| Explanation for Everything | Magyarázat mindenre | Gábor Reisz | Hungary, Slovakia |
| The Featherweight | Robert Kolodny | United States | |
| For Night Will Come | En attendant la nuit | Céline Rouzet | France, Belgium |
| Gasoline Rainbow | Bill Ross, Turner Ross | United States | |
| Heartless | Sem Coração | Nara Normande [pt], Tião | Brazil, France, Italy |
| Hesitation Wound | Tereddüt çİzgİsİ | Selman Nacar | Turkey, Spain, Romania, France |
| Housekeeping for Beginners | Domakinstvo za pocetnici | Goran Stolevski | North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo |
| Nowhere | Invelle | Simone Massi [it] | Italy, Switzerland |
| Paradise Is Burning | Paradiset brinner | Mika Gustafson [sv] | Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland |
| The Red Suitcase | Fidel Devkota | Nepal, Sri Lanka | |
| Shadow of Fire | ほかげ | Shinya Tsukamoto | Japan |
| Tatami | Guy Nattiv andZar Amir Ebrahimi | Georgia, United States | |
| Upon Open Sky | A cielo abierto | Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga | Mexico, Spain |
The following films were selected to theOrizzonti Extra section:[15]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day of the Fight | Jack Huston | United States | |
| The Dreamer | L'homme d'Argile | Anaïs Tellenne | France |
| Felicità | Micaela Ramazzotti | Italy | |
| Forever-Forever | Назавжди-Назавжди | Anna Buryachkova | Ukraine, Netherlands |
| In the Land of Saints and Sinners | Robert Lorenz | Ireland | |
| Pet Shop Days | Olmo Schnabel | United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Mexico | |
| Phantom Youth | Bota jonë | Luàna Bajrami | Kosovo, France |
| The Rescue: The Weight of the World | El rapto | Daniela Goggi [es] | Argentina, United States |
| Stolen | Karan Tejpal | India | |
Venice Classics is the section that since 2012 has presented world premiere screenings at the Venice Film Festival of a selection of the best restorations of film classics carried out over the past year by film archives, cultural institutions and production companies around the world. The section usually also presents a selection of documentaries about cinema. Director and screenwriterAndrea Pallaoro will chair a Jury of Film Students which will award the Venice Classics prizes for the respective competitions forBest Restored Film and for theBest Documentary About Cinema. The Jury chaired will be composed of 24 students, each of them recommended by professors of film studies from various Italian universities.[13] The following films were selected to theVenice Classics section:[18]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restored Films - Main Competition | |||
| Andrei Rublev – Director's Cut (1966) | Андрей Рублёв | Andrei Tarkovsky | Soviet Union |
| Bellissima (1951) | Luchino Visconti | Italy | |
| Bugis Street (1995) | 妖街皇后 | Yonfan | Hong Kong |
| The Creatures (1966) | Les Créatures | Agnès Varda | France |
| Days of Heaven (1978) | Terrence Malick | United States | |
| Deep Crimson – Director's Cut (1996) | Profundo Carmesí | Arturo Ripstein | Mexico, Spain, France |
| The Exorcist (1973) | William Friedkin | United States | |
| Harmonica (1973) | سازدهنی | Amir Naderi | Iran |
| The Hunt (1966) | La caza | Carlos Saura | Spain |
| Jungle Holocaust (1977) | Ultimo Mondo Cannibale | Ruggero Deodato | Italy |
| King & Country (1964) | Joseph Losey | United Kingdom | |
| Life of a Shock Force Worker (1972) | Slike iz života udarnika | Bahrudin Bato Čengic | Yugoslavia |
| Moving (1993) | お引越し | Shinji Sômai | Japan |
| One from the Heart: Director's Cut (1982) | Francis Ford Coppola | United States | |
| Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) | Allan Dwan | ||
| Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965) | Тіні забутих предків | Sergei Parajanov | Soviet Union |
| There Was a Father (1942) | 父ありき | Yasujiro Ozu | Japan |
| The Wayward Life (1953) | La provinciale | Mario Soldati | Italy |
| The Working Girls (1974) | Stephanie Rothman | United States | |
| Restored Films - Out of Competition | |||
| Portrait of Gina (1958) | Orson Welles | United States, Italy | |
| Documentaries about Cinema | |||
| Bill Douglas: My Best Friend | Jack Archer | United Kingdom | |
| Dario Argento Panico | Simone Scafidi | ||
| Le Film Pro-Nazi d’Hitchcock | Daphné Baiwir | France | |
| Frank Capra: Mr. America | Matthew Wells | United Kingdom | |
| Ken Jacobs: From Orchard Street to the Museum of Modern Art | Fred Riedel | United States | |
| Landrián | Ernesto Daranas | Cuba, Spain | |
| Michel Gondry: Do It Yourself | François Nemeta | France | |
| Thank You Very Much | Alex Bravermen | United States | |
| Un’altra Italia era possibile: il cinema di Giuseppe De Santis | Stefano Della Casa | Italy | |
TheVenice Immersive is entirely devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression, from 360° videos to XR works of any length, including installations and virtual worlds. The following projects were selected for the XR - Extended Reality section ofLa Biennale di Venezia:[14]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| In Competition | |||
| Body of Mine | Cameron Kostopoulos | United States | |
| Chen Xiang VR | Liu Yuejun, Wu Nanni, Shi Tao, Xu Jingqiu | China | |
| Comfortless | Gina Kim | South Korea, United States | |
| Complex 7 | Fins | United States | |
| Emperor | Empereur | Marion Burguer, Ilan Cohen | France, Germany |
| Finally Me | Finalmente Eu | Marcio Sal | Brazil |
| Floating with Spirits | Juanita Onzaga | Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands | |
| Flow | Adriaan Lokman | Netherlands, France | |
| Frequency | 周波数 | Ellie Omiya | Japan |
| Gargolye Doyle | Ethan Shaftel | United States, Argentina, Austria | |
| Home | Temsuyanger Longkumer | United Kingdom | |
| Horse Canyon | Nprowler | Canada | |
| The Imaginary Friend | Steye Hallema | Netherlands, Belgium, France | |
| Jim Henson's the Storyteller: The Seven Ravens | Paul Raphaël, Félix Lajeunesse | Canada, United States | |
| Letters from Drancy | Darren Emerson | United States, United Kingdom | |
| My Name is O90 | Siyeon Kim | South Korea | |
| Oneroom-Babel | Sanghee Lee | ||
| Pepitos: The Beak Saga | Ruxandra Gabriela Popescu | United Kingdom, United States | |
| Perennials | Zoe Roellin | United States | |
| Populate | Peupler | Maya Mouawad, Cyril Laurier | France, Lebanon |
| Remember this Place: 31°20’46’’N 34°46’46’’E | Patricia Echeverria Liras | Palestine, Qatar, Spain | |
| Sen | Keisuke Itoh | Japan | |
| Shadowtime | Sister Sylvester, Deniz Tortum | Netherlands, United States, Turkey | |
| Songs for a Passerby | Celine Daemen | Netherlands | |
| Spots of Light | Adam Weingrod | Israel, Canada | |
| Tulpamancer | Marc Da Costa, Matthew Niederhauser | United States | |
| Upwind | Aufwind | Florian Siebert | Germany |
| Wallace & Gromit in the Grand Getaway | Finbar Hawkins, Bram Ttwheam, Lawrence Benett | France, United Kingdom | |
| Best of Immersive - Out of Competition | |||
| Another Fisherman's Tale | Alexis Moroz, Balthazar Auxietre | France | |
| Consensus Gentium | Karen Palmer | United Kingdom, United States | |
| David Attenbourough's Conquest of the Skies | Lewis Ball | ||
| The First Ingredient: Tales From Soda Island – CH. 7 | Simone Fougnier | United States | |
| Forager | WIinslow Porter, Elie Zananiri | ||
| Gaudi, the Atelier of the Divine | Gaudi, l'atelier du divin | Stéphane Landowski, Gaël Cabouat | France, Japan |
| Over the Rainbow | Craig Quintero | Taiwan | |
| Pixel Ripped 1978 | Ana Ribeiro | United States | |
| Space Explorers: Blue Marble – Orbit 1 | Paul Raphaël, Félix Lajeunesse | Canada | |
| The Utility Room | Lionel Marsden | United Kingdom | |
| Biennale College Cinema VR - Out of Competition | |||
| First Day | Valeriy Korshunov | Ukraine | |
| Human Violins - Prelude | Ioana Mischie | Romania, France | |
| Origen | Emilia Sánchez Chiquetti | Brazil | |
| Queer Utopia: Act I Cruising | Lui Avallos | Portugal, Brazil | |
| Tales of the March | Stefano Casertano | Germany, Italy | |
| A Vocal Landscape | Omid Zarei, Anne Jeppesen | Denmark, United States | |
Final Cut in Venice is the festival program that has been providing since 2013 support in the completion of films from African and Middle East countries. The following seven work-in-progress films have been selected for the 11th edition of Final Cut in Venice:[19]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction | |||
| Allah is Not Obliged | Allah n'est pas obligé | Zaven Najjar | France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Slovakia, United States |
| Carissa | Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar | South Africa | |
| Happy Holidays | Scandar Copti | Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar, Italy | |
| Life Is a Railroad | La Vie est un chemin de fer | Kevin Mavakala, Manassé Kashala, Tousmy Kilo, Isaac Sahani | Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Germany |
| Documentary | |||
| Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart | Soudan retiens les chants qui s'effondrent | Hind Meddeb | France, Tunisia |
| She Was Not Alone | Hussein Al-Asadi | Iraq, Saudi Arabia | |
| Zion Music | Rama Thiaw | Senegal, Ivory Coast, Germany | |
The titles in competition will compete for the €5,000 Grand Prize and the €3,000 Audience Award. The selection committee is led by delegate general Beatrice Fiorentino with members including Enrico Azzano, Chiara Borroni, Ilaria Feole, and Federico Pedroni. The following films were selected to the International Critics’ Week sections:[20][21]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| In competition | |||
| About Last Year | Dunja Lavecchia, Beatrice Surano, Morena Terranova | Italy | |
| Hoard | Luna Carmoon | United Kingdom | |
| Life Is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning | Julia Fuhr Mann [de] | Germany | |
| Love Is a Gun | 愛是一把槍 | Lee Hong-chi | Hong Kong, Taiwan |
| Malqueridas | Tana Gilbert | Chile, Germany | |
| Sky Peals | Moin Hussain | United Kingdom | |
| The Vourdalak | Le Vourdalak | Adrien Beau | France |
| Special Screenings | |||
| God Is a Woman(opening film) | Dieu est une femme | Andres Peyrot | France, Switzerland, Panama |
| Infested(closing film) | Vermines | Sébastien Vaniček | France |
| Passione critica | Simone Isola, Franco Montini, Patrizia Pistagnesi | Italy | |
| SIC@SIC Short Italian Cinema | |||
| De l'amour perdu | Lorenzo Quagliozzi | Italy | |
| Foto di gruppo | Tommaso Frangini | ||
| It Isn't So | Fabrizio Paterniti Martello | ||
| La linea del terminatore | Gabriele Biasi | ||
| Las memorias perdidas de los árboles | Antonio La Camera | Italy, Spain | |
| Pinoquo | Federico Demattè | Italy | |
| We Should All Be Futurists | Angela Norelli | ||
| SIC@SIC Short Italian Cinema - Special Screenings | |||
| Incontrodi notte(opening short film) | Liliana Cavani | Italy | |
| Tilipirche(closing short film) | Francesco Piras | ||
The line-up spans 10 films in competition, seven special events, eight titles in "Venice Nights" as well as a special day-long event devotedVallée and the cinema ofQuébec. The following films were selected to theGiornate degli Autori sections:[22]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| In Competition | |||
| Backstage | Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Benkirane | Morocco, Tunisia, Belgium, France, Qatar, Norway, Saudi Arabia | |
| Foremost by Night | Sobre todo de noche | Víctor Iriarte | Spain, Portugal, France |
| Following the Sound | 彼方のうた | Kyoshi Sugita [ja] | Japan |
| Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant | Ariane Louis-Seize | Canada |
| Milk | Melk | Stefanie Kolk | Netherlands |
| Oceans Are the Real Continents | Los océanos son los verdaderos continentes | Tommaso Santambrogio | Italy, Cuba |
| Photophobia | Ivan Ostrochovský [fr],Pavol Pekarčík | Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine | |
| Sidonie in Japan | Sidonie au Japon | Élise Girard [fr] | France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland |
| Snow in Midsummer | 五月雪 | Chong Keat Aun | Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore |
| The Summer with Carmen | Το Καλοκαίρι της Κάρμεν | Zacharias Mavroeidis | Greece |
| Through the Night | Quitter la nuit | Delphine Girard | Belgium, Canada, France |
| Out of Competition | |||
| Coup!(closing film) | Austin Stark, Joseph Schuman | United States | |
| Special Events | |||
| 21 Days Until the End of the World | Teona Strugar Mitevska | North Macedonia | |
| Bye Bye Tiberias | Lina Soualem | France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar | |
| L'Expérience Zola | Gianluca Matarrese | France, Italy | |
| The Outpost | L'avamposto | Edoardo Morabito | Italy, Brazil |
| The Sun Will Rise | آفتاب میشود | Ayat Najafi | Iran, France |
| This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet | Céline Sciamma | Italy, France | |
| Miu MiuWomen's Tales | |||
| #25 Eye Two Times Mouth | Lila Avilés | Mexico | |
| #26 Stane | Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović | Croatia | |
| Venice Nights | |||
| Casablanca | Adriano Valerio | France, Italy | |
| Flesh and Bronze | Semidei | Fabio Mollo, Alessandra Cataleta | Italy |
| Fragments of a Life Loved | Frammenti di un percorso amoroso | Chloé Barreau | |
| The Invention of Snow | L'invenzione della neve | Vittorio Moroni | |
| Le Mie Poesie Non Cambieranno Il Mondo | Annalena Benini andFrancesco Piccolo | ||
| With the Grace of a God | Con la grazia di un Dio | Alessandro Roja | |
| Venice Nights - Special Screening | |||
| Nina of the Wolves | Nina dei lupi | Antonio Pisu [it] | Italy |
| Venice Nights - Dialogues With Auteurs | |||
| Parola ai giovani | Angelo Bozzolini | Italy | |
| Il popolo delle donne | Yuri Ancarani | ||
| The Writer in the Trees | Italo Calvino, lo scrittore sugli alberi | Duccio Chiarini | Italy, France |
| Venice Nights - Tribute toJean-Marc Vallée in collaboration with SODEC and the Delegation of Quebec in Rome | |||
| C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) | Jean-Marc Vallée | Canada | |
The following collateral awards were conferred to films of the autonomous sections:[25][26]
During the Festival, casting director ofIo capitano, Henri-Didier Njikam, was denied an entry visa by theItalian Embassy in Rabat,Morocco, because there were no guarantees that he would leave Italian territory once he entered. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter Roma, Njikam said the fact was perceived as "an act of racism" as "the embassy justified the refusal by claiming that there were no guarantees that I would leave Italian territory once I entered, in Venice. They basically treated me as a migrant, as if I wanted to take advantage of the situation to escape. But I have a job, a professional card from the Moroccan Film Center. And, frankly, if I wanted to work in Europe, I would have already done so," and that the entity "did not look at my resume or my documents, only the color of my skin. [...] This problem exists only with the Italian embassy in Morocco, because my colleagues fromGhana and theIvory Coast were able to leave. If I had been white, I don't think I would have been treated this way."[27]