Venice Film Festival 2021: Kristen Stewart’s Diana drama leads a star-studded programme
Spencer, Pablo Larraín’s highly anticipated drama starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, will debut in competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film takes place over weekend in the early 1990s when Diana decided to separate from Prince Charles amid rumours of affairs.
The 78th edition of the film festival, which runs from September 1-11, will also feature Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter, an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley. Edgar Wright’s horror Last Night in Soho, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith, and Ridley Scott’s medieval epic The Last Duel, starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, will also premiere out of competition.
Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour returns to the festival with Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon in competition, starring Kate Hudson and Jeon Jong-seo as a girl with unusual powers who escapes from a mental asylum, while Jane Campion is competing with The Power of the Dog, a drama about feuding brothers set in 1920s Montana starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.
Previously announced titles include Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, starring Penelope Cruz, which will open the event in competition, and Denis Villeneuve’s big-budget sci-fi epic Dune, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, which will have its world premiere on the Lido out of competition. Another debut will be David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, who will also be given a lifetime achievement award alongside Italian multiple Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful).
This year’s festival will take place entirely in-person, making use of Covid passes and increasing vaccination rates. Parasite director Bong Joon-Ho will preside over the main jury, which includes this year’s Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, who debuted Nomadland at Venice last year.
Announcing the line-up, Alberto Barbera, Artistic Director of the Cinema Department, said: “We were surprised that the average quality of the movies was higher than usual. It’s as though the pandemic has stimulated creativity. For this reason I feel I can be optimistic about the state of the health of cinema in general.
Fifty nine countries will be represented in full-length features; Barbera flagged the unusual exception of China. Five female directors will present films, compared to eight last year. “It might seem like a step backwards but it’s just a partial point of view. Female directed-work represented 28 per cent of the total last year, compared to 26 per cent this year. So it’s just a slowdown” said Barbera.
The festival’s President, Roberto Cicutto, said for the first time this year the festival will focus on sustainability – all greenhouse gas emissions produced will be monitored.
Venice Film Festival 2021: the lineup in full
In Competition
Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodovar – Opening film
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, Ana Lily Amirpour
Un Autre Monde, Stephane Brize
The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion
America Latina, Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo
L’Evenement, Audrey Diwan
Official Competition, Gaston Depart, Mariano Cohn
The Hole, Michelangelo Frammartino
Sundown, Michel Franco
Lost Illusions, Xavier Giannoli
The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Spencer, Pablo Larrain
Freaks Out, Gabriele Mainetti
Qui Rido Io, Mario Martone
On The Job: The Missing 8, Eric Matti
Leave No Traces, Jan P. Matuszyski
Captain Volkonogov Escaped, Yuriy Borisov (Russia, Estonia, France)
The Card Counter, Paul Schrader
The Hand of God, Paolo Sorrentino
Reflection, Valentin Vasyanovych
La Caja, Lorenzo Vigas
Out of Competition – fiction
Il Bambino Nascosto, Roberto Andò – Festival Closer
Les Choses Humaines, Yvan Attal
Ariaferma, Leonardo Di Costanzo
Halloween Kills, David Gordon Green
La Scuola Cattolica, Stefano Mordini
Old Henry, Potsy Ponciroli
The Last Duel, Ridley Scott
Dune, Denis Villeneuve
Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright
Out of Competition – non-fiction
Life Of Crime, Jon Alpert
Tranchees, Loup Bureau
Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo, Augusto Contento
Republic of Silence, Diana El Jeiroudi
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
DeAndre#Deandre Storia di un Impiegato, Roberta Lena
Django&Django, Luca Rea
Horizons
Les Promesses, Thomas Kruithof – Opening film
Atlantide, Jury Ancarani
Miracle, Bogdan George Apetri
Pilgrims, Laurynas Bareisa
The Peackock’s Paradise, Laura Bispuri
The Falls, Chung Mong-Hong
El Hoyo En La Cerca, Joachin Del Paso
Amira, Mohammed Diab
A Plein Temps, Eric Gravel
107 Mothers, Peter Kerkekes
Vera Dreams of the Sea, Kaltrina Krasniqi
Anatomy of Time, Jakrawal Nilthamrong
El Otro Tom, Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo
El Gran Movimiento, Kiro Russo
Once Upon a Time in Calcutta, Adita Vikram Sengupta
Rhino, Oleg Sentsov
True Things, Harry Wootliff
Inu-Oh, Yuasa Maasaki
Horizons Extra
Land of Dreams, Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari – Opening film
Costa Brava (AKA Lebanon) Mounia Akl
Mama, I’m Home, Vladimir Bitokov
Ma Nuit, Antoinette Boulot
La Ragazza Ha Volato, Wilma Labate
7 Prisoners, Alexandre Moratto
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, Teemu Nikki
La Macchina Delle Immagini di Alfredo C, Rolando Sejko
