Venice Film Festival Steals Spotlight with Star Power and Key Premieres!

The 83rd Venice Film Festival is set to captivate audiences from September 2 to 12, showcasing a rich array of cinematic talent, compelling narratives, and thought-provoking discussions. This year's festival is highlighted by a series of masterclasses featuring renowned figures such as George Clooney, Ellen Burstyn, Luca Guadagnino, and Luc Besson. Clooney and Burstyn, both recipients of Venice’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement this year, will deliver their masterclasses on September 3 and September 8, respectively, while Besson is scheduled for September 6. All these talks will commence at 4 p.m. at the Lido’s Match Point Arena, with a seating capacity of 250 accredited guests, and will also be livestreamed on the festival’s official website. Additionally, masterclasses themed “The Art and Craft of Cinema,” presented by Cartier, will include Chloé Zhao in conversation with cinematographer Lukasz Zal on September 4 at 3:30 p.m., and Luca Guadagnino, who will also receive Cartier’s Glory to the Filmmaker Award, on September 7 at 3:30 p.m.

The festival will kick off on September 2 with the world premiere of “Ink,” Danny Boyle’s drama about Rupert Murdoch, starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, and Claire Foy, which is also vying for the prestigious Golden Lion for best film. The competition lineup boasts an impressive roster of international films, including Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime” featuring Robert Pattinson, Casey Affleck’s “Company,” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard” with Kate and Rooney Mara, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back,” Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” and Florian Zeller’s “Bunker,” led by Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, among others.

A significant addition to the competition lineup is “NAZA,” a new documentary from directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, known for their Oscar-winning film “No Other Land.” Boarded by French sales company MK2 Films, “NAZA” was shot at night on Tel Aviv rooftops and aims to expose “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to its official synopsis. The film’s title, “NAZA,” is an Israeli military acronym euphemistically used to denote the expected number of civilian casualties in an airstrike. “NAZA” is the sole documentary feature in this year’s Venice competition and is produced by The Guardian and James Wilson (JW Films), with Jonathan Glazer, part of the Oscar-winning team behind “The Zone of Interest,” serving as executive producer. This potentially explosive documentary, building on revelations first published by the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972, Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, and The Guardian, is set to premiere on September 10.

Further emphasizing the festival’s commitment to impactful storytelling, the Golden Globes Impact Prize for Documentary will be presented by Artemis Rising Foundation, with support from Think-Film Impact Production. This prize honors documentary feature films in the official selection that exemplify the extraordinary power of the genre to illuminate important social issues through compelling narratives. Filipino-American star Liza Soberano has joined the esteemed jury for this prize, alongside Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne, Oscar-winning producer Regina K. Scully (Artemis Rising Foundation), Oscar-winning producer Geralyn White Dreyfous (Impact Partners), and Danielle Turkov Wilson (Think-Film Impact Production). Soberano, an active ambassador for Save the Children Philippines and an advocate for women's and children's rights, online safety, and mental health, expressed her belief in film’s power to challenge injustice and inspire hope. The winning filmmaker will receive a $10,000 cash prize from Artemis Rising Foundation, underscoring the growing recognition and importance of documentary filmmaking within the industry. This partnership, which began at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, expanded to Venice last year, reflecting the collective belief in documentaries as defining cinematic experiences that continue to expand the genre's capabilities and impact.