Venice Film Festival Lineup Includes Mel Gibson, Damian Chazelle, Terrence Malick

Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman will also appear in movies at annual festival

emma stone ryan gosling la la land venice film festival
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The lineup for the 73rd Annual Venice Film Festival includes new offerings from renowned directors Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, and Damian Chazelle.

Malick is bringing his new IMAX documentary “Voyage of Time,” which the slow-moving filmmaker has been working on sporadically for decades. Narrated by Cate Blanchett, the film is described as a “celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse.”

As was previously announced, “Whiplash” director Chazelle’s tribute to Hollywood musicals, “La La Land,” will screen on the opening night of the festival on Aug. 31. In addition, director Antoine Fuqua’s reboot of “The Magnificent Seven,” starring Denzel Washington, is set to screen out of competition before it goes to the Toronto International Film Festival to be that fest’s opening-night attraction.

Gibson is bringing “Hacksaw Ridge,” his first directorial effort in 10 years, to the festival for an out of competition screening. The film tells the true story of World War II soldier Desmond Doss, who became the only conscientious objector to ever win the Medal of Honor.

Natalie Portman will appear in two films in this year’s festival: “Jackie,” about the life of First Lady Jackie Kennedy, and “Planetarium,” which follows two sisters who can communicate with the dead. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander‘s “The Light Between Oceans,” directed by Derek Cianfrance, will also screen in Venice.

Famed fashion designer Tom Ford is bringing his second feature film to the festival, as well. “Nocturnal Animals” is a crime thriller set in the LA art scene and Texas and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams. Ford previously directed “A Single Man,” a 2009 critically acclaimed drama starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.

The festival will also feature a number of films from celebrated international auteurs, including Stephane Brize’s “Une vie,” Lav Diaz’s “The Woman Who Left,” Amat Escalante’s “La region salvaje,” Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Paradise,” Emir Kusturica‘s “On the Milky Road,” Francois Ozon’s “Frantz” and Wim Wenders‘ “Les beaux jours d’Aranjuez,” all in the main competition lineup; Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Young Pope (episodes 1 and 2),” Philippe Falardeau’s “The Bleeder,” Andrew Dominik‘s “One More Time With Feeling,” Sergei Loznitsa’s “Austerlitz” and Ulrich Seidl’s “Safari,” screening out of competition; and Kim Ki-duk’s “The Net,” screening in the Cinema in the Garden section.

As usual, the prolific James Franco will have a film at the festival: “In Dubious Battle,” which is directed by Franco and stars Bryan Cranston, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Robert Duvall and Selena Gomez.

Venice is the first of the three back-to-back-to-back film festivals that kick off awards season every fall. It begins on Aug. 31 and ends on Sept. 10, while the Telluride Film Festival will take place Sept. 2-5 and the Toronto International Film Festival will run from Sept. 8-18.

Check out the full lineup below.

In Competition

“The Bad Batch,” Ana Lily Amirpour (U.S.)
“Une Vie,” Stephan Brizé (France, Belgium)
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle (U.S.)
“The Light Between Oceans,” Derek Cianfrance (U.S., Australia, New Zealand)
“El ciudadano ilustre,” Mariano Cohn, Gaston Duprat (Argentina, Spain)
“Spira Mirabilis,” Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Parenti (Italy, Switzerland)
“The Woman Who Left,” Lav Diaz (Philippines)
“La region salvaje,” Amat Escalante (Mexico)
“Nocturnal Animals,” Tom Ford (U.S.)
“Piuma,” Roan Johnson (Italy)
“Paradise,” Andrei Konchalovsky (Russia, Germany)
“Brimstone,” Martin Koolhoven (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, U.K. Sweden)
“On the Milky Road,” Emir Kusturica (Serbia, U.K., U.S.)
“Jackie,” Pablo Larrain (U.S., Chile)
“Voyage of Time,” Terrence Malick (U.S., Germany)
“El Cristo ciego,” Christopher Murray (Chile, France)
“Frantz,” Francois Ozon (France)
“Questi Giorni,” Giuseppe Piccioni (Italy)
“Arrival,” Denis Villenueve (U.S.)
“The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez,” Wim Wenders (France, Germany)

Out of Competition

Special Event
“The Young Pope” (episodes 1, 2), Paolo Sorrentino (Italy, France, Spain, U.S.)

Fiction
“The Bleeder,” Philippe Falardeau (U.S., Canada)
“The Magnificent Seven,” Antoine Fuqua (U.S.)
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Mel Gibson (U.S.)
“The Journey,” Nick Hamm (U.K.)
“A jamais,” Benoit Jacquot (France, Portugal)
“Gantz:O,” Yasushi Kawamura (Japan)
“The Age of Shadows,” Kim Jee woon (South Korea)
“Monte,” Amir Naderi (Italy, U.S., France)
“Tommaso,” Kim Rossi Stewart (Italy)

Non-Fiction
“Our War,” Bruno Chiaravallotti, Claudio Jampaglia, Benedetta Argentieri (Italy, U.S.)
“I Called Him Morgan,” Kasper Collin (Sweden, U.S.)
“One More Time with Feeling,” Andrew Dominik (U.K.)
“Austerlitz,” Sergei Loznitsa (Germany)
“Assalto al cielo,” Francesco Munzi (Italy)
“Safari,” Ulrich Seidl (Austria, Denmark)
“American Anarchist,” Charlie Siskel (U.S.)

Horizons
“Tarde para la ira,” Raul Arevalo (Spain)
“King of the Belgians,” Peter Brosens, Jessica Woolworth (Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria)
“Through the Wall,” Rama Burshtein (Israel)
“Liberami,” Federica Di Giacomo (Italy, France)
“Big Big World,” Reha Erdem (Turkey)
“Gukuroku,” Ishikawa Kei (Japan)
“Maudit Poutine,” Karl Lemieux, (Canada)
“Sao Jorge,” Marco Martins (Portugal, France)
“Dawson City: Frozen Time,” Bill Morrison (U.S., France)
“Reparer les vivants,” Katell Quillevere (France, Belgium)
“White Sun,” Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal, U.S., Qatar, Netherlands)
“Malaria,” Parviz Shahbazi (Iran)
“Kekszakallu,” Gaston Solnicky (Argentina)
“Home,” Fien Troch (Belgium)
“Die Einsiedler,” Fien Troch (Germany, Austria)
“Il più grande sogno,” (Italy)
“Boys in the Trees,” Nicholas Verso (Australia)
“Bitter Money,” Wang Bing (China)

Special Out-Of-Competition Screening
“Dark Night,” Tim Sutton (U.S.)
“Planetarium,” Rebecca Zlotowski (France, Belgium)

Cinema in the Garden
“Inseparables,” Marcos Carnevale (Argentina)
“Franca: Chaos and Creation,” Francesco Carrozzini (Italy, U.S.)
“In Dubious Battle,” James Franco (U.S.)
“The Net,” Kim Ki-duk (South Korea)
“Summertime,” Gabriele Muccino (Italy)
“The Secret Life of Pets,” Chris Renaud, Yarrow Cheney (U.S.)
“Robinu,” Michele Santoro (Italy)
“My Art,” Laurie Simmons (U.S.)

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