The Venice film festival will take aim at media moguls of the print and digital era this year, with Danny Boyle's new film about Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of the Sun and a documentary about Elon Musk included in the lineup for its 83rd edition.
Boyle's Ink Opens the Festival
In Boyle's Ink, which opens the festival on 2 September, Australian actor Guy Pearce plays Murdoch, whose purchase of the Sun in 1969 sensationalised the media landscape and transformed public life in Britain. The script is written by Olivier award-winning playwright James Graham.
Gibney's Musk Documentary Screens Out of Competition
Oscar-winning film-maker Alex Gibney profiles the world's wealthiest person, rightwing agitator and owner of social network X in his four-hour documentary Musk, which will be screened out of competition.
Star-Studded Lineup
British-Irish director Martin McDonagh will showcase his new film Wild Horse Nine, starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as unlikely CIA agents in Chile on the eve of the Pinochet coup. Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey also star.
Robert Pattinson leads A24's Primetime, a psychological thriller inspired by the US reality TV show To Catch a Predator, directed by Lance Oppenheim.
Real-life spouses Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem star in Florian Zeller's Bunker, about a publisher-architect couple invited by a millionaire to design a nuclear bomb-resistant building.
Real-life sisters Kate and Rooney Mara star in Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard, his first dramatic feature in seven years, centred on a mission to dig a tunnel through a mountain range in search of an imaginary land.
Music and Documentaries
Artistic director Alberto Barbera said Liam and Noel Gallagher had confirmed attendance for the premiere of Oasis reunion documentary Don't Look Back in Anger, while Russell Crowe is expected for a screening of What Love Builds, a documentary about his band Indoor Garden Party.
Serious Fare
Russian-born film-maker Ilya Khrzhanovsky will show the latest film from his Dar project, likened to a Stalinist Truman Show. Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa brings his documentary Imperium, about a film commissioned by the Italian Communist party. Laura Poitras's documentary They're Here, made with Rachel Mueller, dives into ICE's intervention in Minneapolis and the killing of Renée Good.
Nanni Moretti Returns to Venice
Italian film-maker Nanni Moretti, showing in competition with Succederà Questa Notte, makes his first Venice appearance since 1989.
Lack of Female Directors
After six female directors competed for the Golden Lion in 2025, Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhy's drama Woman Unknown is the only female-directed film among the 20 titles in the main competition.
