2021 Venice Film Festival Starry Line-Up Includes ‘Dune,’ ‘Last Night in Soho,’ ‘Last Duel,’ and More

In 2020, the Venice Film Festival was just one of many events to be affected by the pandemic, though it managed to avoid cancelation in favor of a “more restrained format” under strict COVID protocols. This year, however, the availability of vaccines seems to have allowed the highly-anticipated festival to be back and as exciting as ever. Headlined by some major filmmaker names that include Jane Campion, Denis Villeneuve, Ridley Scott, Edgar Wright, and Pedro Almodovar, the 78th annual Venice Film Festival will take place from September 1-11 and is sure to have something for every type of film fanatic out there.

The most popular highlight is probably Villeneuve’s upcoming epic Dune, the latest and most ambitious attempt to adapt Frank Herbert’s challenging novel. Also premiering will be The Last Duel, Ridley Scott’s return to historical epics starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, and Ben Affleck (which we recently got an extended peek at). Not to be outdone, Edgar Wright is going completely off-script from what we tend to expect from the comedic and action-junkie filmmaker with Last Night in Soho, billed as a psychological-thriller and also set for its world premiere at Venice.

Other notables include actor Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut with The Lost Daughter, the Kristen Stewart-starring Princess Diana biopic titled Spencer (from Pablo Larrain, who directed the excellent Jackie), and also the HBO limited series Scenes From a Marriage, starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac (who has no less than three separate entries in this year’s festival).

Check out the full line-up of hopefuls below.

Competition

Parallel Mothers | Pedro Almodovar | Spain

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon | Ana Lily Amirpour | United States

Un Autre Monde | Stephane Brizé | France

The Power of the Dog | Jane Campion | New Zealand, Australia

America Latina | Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo | Italy, France

L’Evenement | Audrey Diwan | France

Official Competition | Gaston Depart, Mariano Cohn | Spain, Argentina

Il Buco | Michelangelo Frammartino | Italy, France, Germany

Sundown | Michel Franco | Mexico, France, Sweden

Lost Illusions | Xavier Giannoli | France

The Lost Daughter | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Greece, United States, U.K., Israel

Spencer | Pablo Lorrain | Germany, United States

Freaks Out | Gabriele Mainetti | Italy, Belgium

Qui Rido Io | Mario Martone | Italy, Spain

On The Job: The Missing 8 | Eric Matti | Philippines

Leave No Traces | Jan P. Matuszyski | Poland, France, Czech Republic

Captain Volkonogov Escaped | Yuriy Borisov | Russia, Estonia, France

The Card Counter | Paul Schrader | United States, United Kingdom, China

The Hand of God | Paolo Sorrentino | Italy

Reflection | Valentin Vasyanovych | Ukraine

La Caja | Lorenzo Vigas | Mexico, United States

Out of Competition

Il Bambino Nascosto | Roberto Andò | Italy

Les Choses Humaines | Yvan Attal | France

Ariaferma | Leonardo Di Costanzo | Italy, Switzerland

Halloween Kills | David Gordon Green | United States

La Scuola Cattolica | Stefano Mordini | Italy

Old Henry | Potsy Ponciroli | United States

The Last Duel | Ridley Scott | United States, United Kingdom

Dune | Denis Villeneuve | United States, Hungary, Jordan, UAE, Norway, Canada

Last Night in Soho | Edgar Wright | United Kingdom

The post 2021 Venice Film Festival Starry Line-Up Includes ‘Dune,’ ‘Last Night in Soho,’ ‘Last Duel,’ and More appeared first on /Film.