80th Venice international film festival 2023!

Venice is one of the longest international film festivals celebrating art of cinema.

This year due to on going strike in Hollywood by Writers have kept festival little subdued compared to previous year…but international audiences have great line up of films to create good anticipation.

Here the list for Golden lion award top contenders.

The world’s longest-running film festival was initially due to open with Challengers, a tennis romance with one of the biggest stars of her generation, Zendaya. But it was replaced at the last minute by Italian war drama Comandante due to the Hollywood strikes.

2023 Venice Film Festival: Full list of movies competing for the Golden Lion

BASTARDEN by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen (Denmark)

DOGMAN by Luc Besson, with Caleb Landry Jones (France)

THE BEAST by Bertrand Bonello, with Lea Seydoux, George MacKay (France/Canada)

HORS-SAISON by Stephane Brize with Guillaume Canet, Alba Rohrwacher (France)

ENEA by Pietro Castellitto with Pietro Castellitto, Giorgio Quarzo Guarascio (Italy)

MAESTRO by Bradley Cooper, with Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman (USA)

PRISCILLA by Sofia Coppola with Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi (USA/Italy)

FINALMENTE L’ALBA by Saverio Costanzo with Lily James, Rebecca Antonaci (Italy)

COMANDANTE by Edoardo De Angelis with Pierfrancesco Favino (Italy)

LUBO by Giorgio Diritti with Franz Rogowski (Italy, Switzerland)

ORIGIN by Ava DuVernay with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal (USA)

THE KILLER by David Fincher with Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton (USA)

MEMORY by Michel Franco with Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard (Mexico, USA)

IO CAPITANO by Matteo Garrone with Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall (Italy/Belgium)

EVIL DOES NOT EXIST by Ryusuke Hamaguchi with Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka (Japan)

GREEN BORDER by Agnieszka Holland with Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska (Poland/France/Czech Rep/Belgium)

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING by Timm Kroger with Jan Bulow, Olivia Ross (Germany/Austria/Switzerland)

POOR THINGS by Yorgos Lanthimos with Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe (Britain)

EL CONDE by Pablo Larrain with Jaime Vadell (Chile)

FERRARI by Michael Mann with Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz (USA)

ADAGIO by Stefano Sollima with Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo (Italy)

KOBIETA Z… by Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert with Malgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Joanna Kulig (Poland/Sweden)

HOLLY by Fien Troch with Cathalina Geeraerts, Felix Heremans (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg/France)

Others sections include are

*Out of competition

* Orizzonti – screening international films of artistically made by debut film makers, Independent films and Young film makers

* Venice Classic – Restored great films screening

* Venice immersive – recognising VR video films,

* Biennale College Cinema- Workshops by Various authors on micro budgeting of film production.

* Special screening

One of Asia’s most revered and internationally recognized actors Tony Leung  wins a Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first Chinese actor to receive the high honor.

The Hong Kong actor honored the moment at a press conference before receiving the acclaimed award at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, reflecting on his career and shedding light on his first European movie role.

Heading this year’s jury is director Damien Chazelle, who was recently revealed as the international jury president. Chazelle’s résumé includes “Whiplash (2014),” “Babylon (2023)” and “La La Land,” which opened the 2016 Venice Film Festival.

Other jury members include actor Saleh Bakri; filmmaker Jane Campion; director Mia Hansen-Løve; director Gabriele Mainetti; playwright Martin McDonagh; director Santiago Mitre; director Laura Poitras, and actress Shu Qi.

Article by

CJ Rajkumar

Author/Cinematographer