Shafaq News- Venice

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival has unveiled the lineups for its Main Competition and Orizzonti sections, with the selected films competing for the Golden Lion and Silver Lion awards.

The official program, announced in Rome by Artistic Director Alberto Barbera, includes films selected for the Main Competition, Orizzonti, and other sections of the festival. Barbera noted that the lineup reinforces cinema’s role as a powerful means of understanding the real world, with the selected works addressing major contemporary challenges.

Barbera called cinema “a living entity capable of constant reinvention,” despite declining audience numbers, adding that it continues to create moments of revelation and visual wonder.

Around 4,500 films were reviewed for this year’s festival, compared with 4,200 submissions last year, reflecting the continued growth of global film production. The program addresses several major issues, including war, the climate crisis, migration, and social and family tensions.

Main Competition

The following films were selected for the Main Competition:

- Company by Casey Affleck (Canada/Romania/Italy/US/UAE).

- A Bit of Light by Al Asgari (Iran/Switzerland/Italy/Canada/Turkiye).

- Ritorno a Buenos Aires by Marco Bechis (Italy/Brazil).

- Ink by Danny Boyle (UK) – Opening Film.

- Un bon petit soldat (A Good Little Soldier) by Stéphane Brizé (France).

- Il fuoco che ti porti dentro by Edoardo De Angelis (Italy).

- Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown) by May el-Toukhy (Denmark/Sweden).

- Bucking Fastard by Werner Herzog (Ireland/US).

- 15/18: A Place to Heal by Cédric Kahn (France).

- Dau by Ilya Khrzhanovsky (Germany/France/Sweden).

- Look Back by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan).

- Possible Love by Lee Chang-dong (South Korea).

- Wild Horse Nine by Martin McDonagh (UK/US/Chile).

- Succederà questa notte by Nanni Moretti (Italy/France/Spain).

- Primetime by Lance Oppenheim (US).

- The Echo Chamber by Andrea Pallaoro (Italy/Belgium).

- Un peu avant minuit by Nicolas Pariser (France).

- L’estranea by Paolo Strippoli (Italy/France/Belgium).

- Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? by Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan/US/Thailand/Vietnam).

- Bunker by Florian Zeller (France/Spain).

Orizzonti Competition

The following films were selected for the Orizzonti Competition:

- The Burning Giants by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng.

- What Belongs to Others by Grzegorz Dębowski.

- Una Storia by Anna Foglietta.

- La Città dei Vivi by Edoardo Gabbriellini.

- Falling House by Mohsen Gharaei (Iran).

- Too Much Sugar by Robert Greene.

- The Difficult Bride by Rubaiyat Hossain.

- La maison du vent by Auguste Bernard and Kouemo Yanghu.

- I figli della scimmia by Tommaso Landucci.

- A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra by Jacqueline Lentzou.

- Oasis by Jannis Lenz.

- Until the Day Ends by Jelena Maksimović.

- La ragazza con la Leica by Alina Marazzi.

- La Moula by Jérôme Pierrat.

- Lovers in the Blue Night by Anuparna Roy.

- Un détour par Diane by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni.

- The Color of the Sun by Xavier Tera.

- Eklipse by Manuel Wetscher.

- Big Little Things by Michelle Zhou.

Official Awards

The official awards will be announced during the closing ceremony on September 12, 2026, at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Venice Lido.

The International Competition Jury will present the following prizes:

- Golden Lion for Best Film.

- Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize.

- Silver Lion for Best Director.

- Coppa Volpi for Best Actress.

- Coppa Volpi for Best Actor.

- Special Jury Prize.

- Best Screenplay.

- Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.

Festival Overview

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will run from September 2 to 12, 2026, in Venice, Italy, under the direction of Alberto Barbera. The program includes the Main Competition, Orizzonti Competition, Critics’ Week Competition, Venezia Spotlight, Immersive Competition, Classic Film Restorations, College Cinema, Best of Experiences, Best of the World, Cinema and Music Special, Critics’ Week Out of Competition, and workshops and interviews with cinema figures.

The festival, the world’s oldest film event, will host prominent auteur filmmakers and international stars, with Italian cinema strongly represented across the program.

For more info: https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2026/venezia-83-competition

Credit: Independent journalist and reporter Mansour Jahani