Venice 2021 Lineup: ‘Last Duel,’ ‘Dune,’ ‘Spencer,’ ‘Power of the Dog,’ and More

Zack Sharf
·4 min read
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The 2021 Cannes Film Festival brought the international film circuit back to life in roaring fashion earlier this month (French filmmaker Julia Ducournau became the second woman director to win the Palme d’Or thanks to Neon release “Titane”), and next up are the trio of major fall film festivals in September: the Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival. Venice is first out of the gate by launching its 78th edition Wednesday, September 1. The lineup for Venice 2021 has now been revealed.

As previously announced, Pedro Almodóvar will kick off the 2021 Venice Film Festival with the world premiere of his new drama “Parallel Mothers.” The film will debut in competition and vie for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion. “Parallel Mothers” is written and directed by Almodóvar, and stars both regular and new collaborators, including Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Julieta Serrano, and Rossy De Palma. Almodóvar attended Venice last year to world premiere his short film “The Human Voice” out of competition. Venice was the rare 2020 festival that held an in-person event despite the pandemic.

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Also announced prior to the official lineup announcement is the world premiere of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” set for Friday, September 3. The science-fiction epic is debuting out of competition.

Last year’s Golden Lion winner was Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” which went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The 2019 Golden Lion winner was “Joker,” which earned 11 Oscar nominations and won Joaquin Phoenix the Academy Award for Best Actor. Suffice to say, Venice winners often go on to have long legs during the awards season that follows the festival. Other recent Venice winners include “Roma” and Best Picture winner “The Shape of Water.”

Zhao will return to Venice this year as a member of the competition jury, which is being presided over by “Parasite” Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho. The “Snowpiercer” and “Parasite” Oscar winner will be the first person from South Korea to serve as the president of the film festival’s seven-person jury. Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera hailed Bong as “one of the most authentic and original voices in worldwide cinema.” Additional competition jurors are actor Virginie Efira, actress Cynthia Erivo, actress Sarah Gadon, director Saverio Costanzo, and Alexander Nanau.

The 2021 Venice Film Festival runs September 1-11. Check out the official lineup for the festival below.

Opening Night
“Parallel Mothers,” Pedro Almodóvar (in competition)

Competition/Venezia 78
“Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” Ana Lily Amirpour
“Un Autre Monde,” Stephanie Brize
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion
“America Latina,” Damiano D’Innocenzo and Fabio D’Innocenzo
“L’Evenement,” Audrey Diwan
“Official Competition,” Gaston Duprat and Mariana Cohn
“Il Buco,” Michelangelo Frammartino
“Sundown,” Michel Franco
“Illusions Perdues,” Xavier Giannoli
“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal
“Spencer,” Pablo Larrain
“Freaks Out,” Gabrielle Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io,” Mario Martone
“On the Job: The Missing 8,” Erik Matti
“Leave No Traces,” Jan P. Matuszynski
“Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov
“The Card Counter,” Paul Schrader
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Reflection,” Valentyn Vasyanovych
“La Caja,” Lorenzo Vigas

Out of Competition (Fiction)
“Il Bambino Nascosto,” Roberto Ando (closing film of the festival)
“Les Choses Humaines,” Yvan Attal
“Ariaferma,” Leonardo di Costanzo
“Halloween Kills,” David Gordon Green
“La Scoula Cattolica,” Stefano Mordini
“Old Henry,” Potsy Ponciroli
“The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott
“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve
“Last Night in Soho,” Edgar Wright
“Scenes From a Marriage” (Episodes 1-5), Hagai Levi

Out of Competition (Non Fiction)
“Life of Crime 1984-2020,” 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 and Dayna Goldfine
“Deandre#Deandre Storia Di Un Impiegato,” Roberta Lena
“Django and Django,” Luca Rea
“Ezio Bosso. Le Cose Che Restano,” Giorgio Verdelli

Out of Competition (Special Screenings)
“Le 7 Giornate di Bergamo,” Simona Ventura
“Il Cinema Al Tempo del Covid,” Andrea Segre

Out of Competition (Short Films)
“Plastic Semiotic,” Radu Jude
“The Night,” Tsai Ming-Liang
“Sad Film,” Vasili (Pseudonym)

Horizons/Orizzonti
“Les Promesses,” Thomas Kruithof
“Atlantide,” Yuri Ancarani
“Miracle,” Bogdan George Apetri
“Pilgrims,” Laurynas Bareisa
“Il Paradiso Del Pavone,” Laura Bispuri
“The Falls,” Chung Mong-Hong
“El Hoyo en la Cerca,” Joaquin Del Paso
“Amira,” Mohamed Diab
“A Plein Temps,” Eric Gravel
“107 Mothers,” Peter Kerekes
“Vera Dreams of the Sea,” Kaltrina Krasniqi
“White Building,” Kavich Neang
“Anatomy of Time,” Jakrawal Nilthamrong
“El Otro Tom,” Rodrigo Pla and Laura Santullo
“El Gran Movimiento,” Kiro Russo
“Once Upon a Time in Calcutta,” Aditya Vikram Sengupta
“Rhino,” Oleg Sentsov
“True Things,” Harry Wootliff
“Inu-Oh,” Yuasa Masaaki

Horizons/Orizzonti Extra
“Land of Dreams,” Sherin Neshat and Shoja Azari
“Costa Brava,” Mounia Akl
“Mama, I’m Home,” Vladimir Bitokov
“Ma Nuit,” Antoinette Boulat
“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.,” Roland Sejko

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