Venice 82: Official lineup announced

It is an impressive, layered lineup, dense with prominent international names and emerging new voices, that was announced today by the artistic director Alberto Barbera for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, which will be held from August 27 to September 6, 2025.

An edition that promises to be memorable for the depth of the themes addressed, the variety of cinematic forms presented, and the artistic quality of the selected works. The Official Competition will be a battleground between giants of contemporary cinema and new talents, while the Out of Competition section will offer highly anticipated titles for cinephiles worldwide.

Great directors in Competition

Competing for the Golden Lion are some of the most influential directors of recent decades. After winning the Oscar for The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro returns with Frankenstein, a personal and poetic interpretation of Mary Shelley’s classic, starring Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth.

Highly awaited is the return to directing by Kathryn Bigelow with A House of Dynamite, a political thriller set during a crisis at the White House, featuring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, and Jared Harris in the cast. The director of The Hurt Locker has not made a film since 2017.

Noah Baumbach presents for Netflix Jay Kelly, starring George Clooney as an actor experiencing an identity crisis. The film, co-written with Emily Mortimer, marks the director’s fourth collaboration with the platform.

Also, Yorgos Lanthimos, fresh from the success of Poor Creatures, chooses Venice for the world premiere of Bugonia, reuniting with Emma Stone. An enigmatic film, suspended between grotesque and metaphysical, in the best tradition of the Greek director.

Jim Jarmusch debuts in Competition with a film that promises to further confirm his mastery in depicting complex human relationships with simplicity and depth. Father Mother Sister Brother boasts a stellar cast: Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps.

Other titles in Competition include: The Testament of Ann Lee by Mona Fastvold, a historical musical starring Amanda Seyfried; The Wizard of the Kremlin by Olivier Assayas, with Jude Law portraying Vladimir Putin; The Stranger by François Ozon, an adaptation of Camus set in colonial Algeria; the highly anticipated No Other Choice by Park Chan-wook and The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania, one of the politically strongest titles in the selection, sure to spark debate.

Out of Competition: stars and visions

Luca Guadagnino chooses the Out of Competition section to present After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts in her first appearance at the Lido. The film, co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios, is a psychological drama featuring Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri.

Among the most anticipated titles are: In the Hand of Dante by Julian Schnabel, starring Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, and Martin Scorsese; Ghost Elephants by Werner Herzog; Marc by Sophia, a documentary by Sofia Coppola about Marc Jacobs; and Nuestra Tierra by Lucrecia Martel, dedicated to the indigenous struggle in South America.

Italy in the Spotlight

Italy is represented by works of great interest: Under the Clouds, a new documentary by Gianfranco Rosi; and Duse, a biopic directed by Pietro Marcello, starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. In the Horizons section, stand out A Year of School by Laura Samani, The Valley of Smiles by Paolo Strippoli featuring Michele Riondino and Romana Maggiora Vergano, and The Kidnapping of Arabella by Carolina Cavalli, starring Benedetta Porcaroli and Chris Pine.

Also on the TV series front, Italy is at the forefront: Marco Bellocchio presents Portobello, Stefano Sollima directs The Monster for Netflix, while Enrico Maria Artale directs Un Prophète, a reinterpretation of Audiard’s masterpiece.

Between Philosophy, Cinema, and Doubts

In his speech, Barbera quoted Jacques Rivette and Jorge Luis Borges, recalling that “cinema does not offer solutions, but questions.” He also reiterated the urgency, now more than ever, for a cinema that unsettles rather than reassures: “It is a form of cognitive violence that pushes us out of our comfort zone to help us better understand who we are.”

Venezia82 by the Numbers

The 2025 edition presents impressive numbers that reflect the global scope of the Festival. The new feature films in the Official Selection total 91, broken down as follows:

• 21 in the Venezia 82 (Competition) section

• 30 Out of Competition (19 documentaries, 11 fiction films)

• 19 in Horizons

• 8 in Venezia Spotlight

• 9 in Venezia Classics – Cinema Documentaries

• 4 in Biennale College – Cinema

There are 25 short films, divided as follows:

• 15 in Horizons – Shorts

• 7 in Tribute to AWITO

• 3 Out of Competition – Shorts

The TV series scheduled are four, all in the Out of Competition – Series category.

The Venezia Classics section presents 19 restored feature films, while Venice Immersive offers as many as 69 works, divided as follows:

• 30 In Competition

• 11 in Best of Experiences – Out of Competition

• 23 in Best of Worlds – Out of Competition

• 5 in Biennale College Cinema – Immersive – Out of Competition

The countries represented this year number 65.

In terms of quantity, the entries totaled 4,580, of which:

• 1,936 feature films (173 Italian)

• 2,353 short films (189 Italian)

• 102 restored classics (16 Italian)

• 189 immersive projects (9 Italian)

Records, Debuts, and Masters in Competition

Six directors are participating for the first time in the Competition for the Golden Lion:

• The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania

• Elisa by Leonardo Di Costanzo

• À Pied d’Oeuvre by Valérie Donzelli

• Father Mother Sister Brother by Jim Jarmusch

• The Smashing Machine by Benny Safdie

• Nühai (Girl) by Shu Qi

In the Official Selection, there are:

• 5 Oscar winners: Kathryn Bigelow, Sofia Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Charlie Kaufman, Laura Poitras

• 2 winners of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Marco Bellocchio, Werner Herzog

• 7 winners of the Golden Lion for Best Film

• 4 winners of the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize

• 3 winners of the Silver Lion for Best Director

• 1 winner of the Special Jury Prize

• 3 winners of the Best Screenplay Award

• 1 winner of the Horizons Award for Best Film

• 1 winner of the Special Horizons Award

• 1 winner of the Horizons Award for Screenplay

A Poster Between Poetry and Sky

The official poster for the 2025 Festival is by Manuele Fior, a famous comic artist and illustrator. The image shows three young people on the rooftops of an imaginary Venice, recreating the foundational gestures of cinema: framing, clapping the slate, acting. In the background, a cloud à la Tiepolo and a dizzying perspective evoke the Nouvelle Vague.

“I wanted to move the horizon upward, among the Venetian chimneys that seem part of a fantastic village,” Fior said, who also created works such as Cinquemila chilometri al secondo, Celestia, and Hypericon.

A Festival That Renews Itself

The 2025 edition also marks the debut of Venezia Spotlight, a new section replacing Orizzonti Extra, dedicated to genre cinema and hybrid works. Opening film is Hijra by Shahad Ameen, a story of sisterhood in the Saudi desert.

The opening film will be La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino, while the closing film is Chien 51 by Cédric Jimenez. The Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement will be awarded to actress Kim Novak and director Werner Herzog.

🎧 Throughout the Festival, FRED Film Radio will follow the event with interviews, podcasts, and live insights from the Venice Lido.