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Opens August 30, 2023

The festival opens on August 30 with the premiere of the Italian World War II film “Comandante”, directed by Edoardo De Angelis. The event runs until September 9 and culminates in the Spanish-language Netflix drama “The Society of Snow.”

Held on Venice Beach

This festival takes place on the Lido of Venice, called the coast of Venice; a barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, accessible by a short boat ride from the main city of Venice. Unlike Venice itself, cars have access to the Lido.

Awards Season

The festival marks the start of awards season and regularly features top Oscar favorites. Eight of the 11 best director awards at the Oscars go to films that debuted in Venice

Movie stars and directors usually like to travel to the lagoon city to launch their films. However, this year won’t be as busy as usual, as the Hollywood actors’ strike will prevent many stars from promoting their work here.

Featured Movies

There are several categories in which the official selection of films is presented, the first being that which competes for the coveted Golden Lion award.

This year’s 23 nominees, in order of selection, are:

1. “Comandante” (Italy) Director: Edoardo De Angelis

2. Director of “El Conde” (Chile): Pablo Larrain

3. Director of “Dogman” (France): Luc Besson

4. “Ferrari” (USA) Director: Michael Mann

5. “The Promised Land” (Denmark) Director: Nikolaj Arcel

6. Director of “Poor Things” (English): Yorgos Lanthimos

7. “Finally Down”, Director: Saverio Costanzo

8. Director of “Maestro” (USA): Bradley Cooper

9. Director of “Adagio”, Stefano Sollima

10. “Die Theorie Von Allem” (Germany-Austria-Switzerland) Director: Timm Kroger

11. Director of “The Killer” (USA): David Fincher

12. Director of “The Beast” (Role-Canadian): Bertrand Bonello

13. “Evil Does Not Exist” (Japan) Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

14. Director of “Priscilla” (USA): Sofia Coppola

15. “Green Border” (Czech-Pol-Bel-French) Director: Agnieszka Holland

16. “Enea”, director: Pietro Castellito

17. Director of “Origin” (USA): Ava DuVernay

18. “Me Captain” (It-Bel) Director: Matteo Garrone

19. Director of “Lubo” (It-Switzerland): Giorgio Diritti

20. Director of “Holly” (Bel-Neth-Lux-Fr): Fien Troch

21. “Woman Of” (Pol-Swe) directors: Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert

22. Director of “Memory” (Mexico-USA): Michel Franco

23. Director of “Off-Season” (France): Stéphane Brize

Main films screened

Like other festivals, Venice offers a number of venues for interesting films screened out of competition. Among the films on offer this year are “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” by American director William Friedkin, who died this month; “Coup de Chance”, Woody Allen’s first French-language film; “The Palace”, by Roman Polanski; “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”, a short film by Wes Anderson; “Aggro Dr1ft”, directed by Harmony Korine and featuring rapper Travis Scott.