The 80th Venice International Film Festival, scheduled to take place at the Venice Lido from August 30 to September 9, is now just around the corner and artistic director Alberto Barbera unveils the Italian films in competition, and the first observation to be made, looking at the sixteen selected works, is an increase in the presence of Italians compared to previous editions.
The six titles vying for the Golden Lion, traceable to as many directors are: Enea, Pietro Castellitto’s second feature, starring Benedetta Porcaroli; Saverio Costanzo’s Finalmente l’alba, starring Lily James, as an aspiring actress in 1950s Cinecittà, and Willem Dafoe; Edoardo De Angelis’s Comandante (MIA Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum, 2019), written with Alessandro Veronese about the story of the submarine, which rescues newly sunk enemies during World War II; Giorgio Diritti’s Lubo, which is a transposition of Il seminatore, the novel signed by Mario Cavatore; Matteo Garrone’s Io capitano, which tells the Homeric journey of two young Africans on their way to Europe; Stefano Sollima’s Adagio, a twilight story of revenge and redemption starring Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea, and Adriano Giannini.
One more title and one more director, this time out of competition, is Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, which has its world premiere on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
Photo Credits: Pxhere
