Overview
- La Biennale announced the full slate on Thursday, July 23, confirming Danny Boyle’s Ink as the opening competition film and naming Maggie Gyllenhaal jury president.
- George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn will receive honorary Golden Lions for lifetime achievement, and the competition roster features new films from Martin McDonagh, Werner Herzog, Hirokazu Kore‑eda and Florian Zeller.
- Alex Gibney’s four‑hour documentary Musk is slated out of competition, and the out‑of‑competition program includes a strong cluster of long-form, topical documentaries from established nonfiction filmmakers.
- Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) released a 25‑film, all‑world‑premiere lineup that opens with Lili Horvát’s My Notes on Mars, centers on displacement and memory, and includes 14 films directed by women.
- Coverage notes a lighter Hollywood and studio presence compared with prior years, a shift that could raise the profile of international auteurs and documentaries as awards‑season contenders and alter how distributors plan fall releases.