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The 83rd Venice International Film Festival has unveiled the official selections for its Main Competition and Orizzonti Competition sections, with the selected titles set to compete for the prestigious Golden Lion and Silver Lion awards. The lineup was announced by Venice Artistic Director Alberto Barbera during a press conference in Rome, presenting the films selected for the festival’s competitive sections and highlighting the role of cinema as a powerful tool to understand the contemporary world.
According to Barbera, the selected works reflect some of the major challenges facing society today, reinforcing cinema’s ability to explore global issues through diverse perspectives. He also emphasized that, despite declining audience numbers, cinema remains “a living entity capable of constant reinvention”, continuing to generate moments of discovery and visual innovation. This year, the festival reviewed approximately 4,500 films, up from 4,200 submissions in the previous edition, reflecting the continued growth and dynamism of global film production. The program addresses major themes including war, climate change, migration and social and family tensions

MAIN COMPETITION LINEUP

• “Company”, directed by Casey Affleck (Canada, Romania, Italy, USA, UAE)
• “A Bit of Light”, directed by Al Asgari (Iran, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Turkey)
• “Ritorno a Buenos Aires”, directed by Marco Bechis (Italy, Brazil)
• “Ink” (Opening Film), directed by Danny Boyle (UK)
• “Un bon petit soldat”, directed by Stéphane Brizé (France)
• “Il fuoco che ti porti dentro”, directed by Edoardo De Angelis (Italy)
• “Kvinde Ukendt”, directed by May el-Toukhy (Denmark, Sweden)
• “Bucking Fastard”, directed by Werner Herzog (Ireland, USA)
• “15/18: A Place to Heal”, directed by Cédric Kahn (France)
• “Dau”, directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky (Germany, France, Sweden)
• “Look Back”, directed by Hirozaku Koreeda (Japan)
• “Possible Love”, directed by Lee Chang-dong (South Korea)
• “Wild Horse Nine”, directed by Martin McDonagh (UK, USA, Chile)
• “Succederà questa notte”, directed by Nanni Moretti (Italy, France, Spain)
• “Primetime”, directed by Lance Oppenheim (USA)
• “The Echo Chamber”, directed by Andrea Pallaoro (Italy, Belgium)
• “Un peu avant minuit”, directed by Nicolas Pariser (France)
• “L’estranea”, directed by Paolo Strippoli (Italy, France, Belgium)
• “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?”, directed by Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan, USA, Thailand, Vietnam)
• “Bunker”, directed by Florian Zeller (France, Spain)

ORIZZONTI COMPETITION LINEUP

• “The Burning Giants”, directed by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
• “What Belongs to Others”, directed by Grzegorz Dębowski
• “Una Storia”, directed by Anna Foglietta
• “La Città dei Vivi”, directed by Edoardo Gabbriellini
• “Falling House”, directed by Mohsen Gharaei
• “Too Much Sugar”, directed by Robert Greene
• “The Difficult Bride”, directed by Rubaiyat Hossain
• “La maison du vent”, directed by Auguste Bernard and Kouemo Yanghu
• “I figli della scimmia”, directed by Tommaso Landucci
• “A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra”, directed by Jacqueline Lentzou
• “Oasis”, directed by Jannis Lenz
• “Until the Day Ends”, directed by Jelena Maksimović
• “La ragazza con la Leica”, directed by Alina Marazzi
• “La Moula”, directed by Jérôme Pierrat
• “Lovers in the Blue Night”, directed by Anuparna Roy
• “Un détour par Diane”, directed by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni
• “The Color of the Sun”, directed by Xavier Tera
• “Eklipse”, directed by Manuel Wetscher
• “Big Little Things”, directed by Michelle Zhou

The official awards, including the Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Coppa Volpi awards for Best Actress and Best Actor, Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay Award and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress, will be presented during the closing ceremony on September 12, 2026, at the Palazzo del Cinema on Venice Lido.
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will take place from September 2 to 12, 2026, in Venice, Italy. The world’s oldest film festival will bring together leading auteurs, international stars and filmmakers across its competitive and non-competitive sections, including Critics’ Week, Venezia Spotlight, Immersive Competition, Venice Classics, College Cinema and Cinema and Music Special.