Venice Film Festival 2021: Kristen Stewart’s Diana drama leads a star-studded programme

Spencer, Pablo Larraín’s highly anticipated drama starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, will debut in competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film takes place over weekend in the early 1990s when Diana decided to separate from Prince Charles amid rumours of affairs.

The 78th edition of the film festival, which runs from September 1-11, will also feature Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter, an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley. Edgar Wright’s horror Last Night in Soho, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith, and Ridley Scott’s medieval epic The Last Duel, starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, will also premiere out of competition.

Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour returns to the festival with Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon in competition, starring Kate Hudson and Jeon Jong-seo as a girl with unusual powers who escapes from a mental asylum, while Jane Campion is competing with The Power of the Dog, a drama about feuding brothers set in 1920s Montana starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.

Previously announced titles include Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, starring Penelope Cruz, which will open the event in competition, and Denis Villeneuve’s big-budget sci-fi epic Dune, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, which will have its world premiere on the Lido out of competition. Another debut will be David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, who will also be given a lifetime achievement award alongside Italian multiple Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful).

This year’s festival will take place entirely in-person, making use of Covid passes and increasing vaccination rates. Parasite director Bong Joon-Ho will preside over the main jury, which includes this year’s Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, who debuted Nomadland at Venice last year.

Announcing the line-up, Alberto Barbera, Artistic Director of the Cinema Department, said: “We were surprised that the average quality of the movies was higher than usual. It’s as though the pandemic has stimulated creativity. For this reason I feel I can be optimistic about the state of the health of cinema in general.

Fifty nine countries will be represented in full-length features; Barbera flagged the unusual exception of China. Five female directors will present films, compared to eight last year. “It might seem like a step backwards but it’s just a partial point of view. Female directed-work represented 28 per cent of the total last year, compared to 26 per cent this year. So it’s just a slowdown” said Barbera.

The festival’s President, Roberto Cicutto, said for the first time this year the festival will focus on sustainability – all greenhouse gas emissions produced will be monitored.

Venice Film Festival 2021: the lineup in full

In Competition

Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodovar – Opening film

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, Ana Lily Amirpour

Un Autre Monde, Stephane Brize

The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion

America Latina, Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo

L’Evenement, Audrey Diwan

Official Competition, Gaston Depart, Mariano Cohn

The Hole, Michelangelo Frammartino

Sundown, Michel Franco

Lost Illusions, Xavier Giannoli

The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Spencer, Pablo Larrain

Freaks Out, Gabriele Mainetti

Qui Rido Io, Mario Martone

On The Job: The Missing 8, Eric Matti

Leave No Traces, Jan P. Matuszyski

Captain Volkonogov Escaped, Yuriy Borisov (Russia, Estonia, France)

The Card Counter, Paul Schrader

The Hand of God, Paolo Sorrentino

Reflection, Valentin Vasyanovych

La Caja, Lorenzo Vigas

Out of Competition – fiction

Il Bambino Nascosto, Roberto Andò – Festival Closer

Les Choses Humaines, Yvan Attal

Ariaferma, Leonardo Di Costanzo

Halloween Kills, David Gordon Green

La Scuola Cattolica, Stefano Mordini

Old Henry, Potsy Ponciroli

The Last Duel, Ridley Scott

Dune, Denis Villeneuve

Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright

Out of Competition – non-fiction

Life Of Crime, Jon Alpert

Tranchees, Loup Bureau

Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo, Augusto Contento

Republic of Silence, Diana El Jeiroudi

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine

DeAndre#Deandre Storia di un Impiegato, Roberta Lena

Django&Django, Luca Rea

Horizons

Les Promesses, Thomas Kruithof – Opening film

Atlantide, Jury Ancarani

Miracle, Bogdan George Apetri

Pilgrims, Laurynas Bareisa

The Peackock’s Paradise, Laura Bispuri

The Falls, Chung Mong-Hong

El Hoyo En La Cerca, Joachin Del Paso

Amira, Mohammed Diab

A Plein Temps, Eric Gravel

107 Mothers, Peter Kerkekes

Vera Dreams of the Sea, Kaltrina Krasniqi

Anatomy of Time, Jakrawal Nilthamrong

El Otro Tom, Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo

El Gran Movimiento, Kiro Russo

Once Upon a Time in Calcutta, Adita Vikram Sengupta

Rhino, Oleg Sentsov

True Things, Harry Wootliff

Inu-Oh, Yuasa Maasaki

Horizons Extra

Land of Dreams, Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari – Opening film

Costa Brava (AKA Lebanon) Mounia Akl

Mama, I’m Home, Vladimir Bitokov

Ma Nuit, Antoinette Boulot

La Ragazza Ha Volato, Wilma Labate

7 Prisoners, Alexandre Moratto

The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, Teemu Nikki

La Macchina Delle Immagini di Alfredo C, Rolando Sejko