Oscars Questions: Venice, TIFF, and Telluride Preview
Venice Film Festival Buzz: What to watch For
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The Venice Film Festival, a prestigious launchpad for cinematic excellence, is once again set to ignite the awards season. As the industry gears up for this iconic event, several films and performances are already generating significant buzz, hinting at potential Oscar contenders and directorial comebacks.
Jeremy Allen White: The Next Big Thing?
If the inevitable Jeremy Allen White campaign for Best Actor is going to launch at a festival, Telluride is where it will start rocking. While not explicitly stated as a Venice film, the anticipation surrounding White’s potential awards trajectory often begins at these early fall festivals, with Venice being a key indicator.His raw talent and recent critical acclaim suggest he’s a name to watch as the awards season unfolds.
Is The Testament of Ann Lee the Next Brutalist?
Last year, Brady Corbet‘s The Brutalist came out of Venice with major awards heat. This year, that film’s cowriter Mona Fastvold is looking to follow that same trajectory with The Testament of Ann Lee. This period musical,shot in the stunning 70mm format,chronicles the founding of the Shakers and stars the captivating Amanda Seyfried. Penned with Corbet, the film is also seeking a distributor at the festival. Could multiple Oscar nominations be the films’ next similarity? The pedigree of the creative team and the enterprising scope of the project certainly suggest a strong possibility.
Is Gus Van Sant Back?
It’s been seven years as Gus Van Sant‘s last feature directorial effort, but you would be forgiven for thinking it had been longer. The two-time Oscar-nominated director is returning to material more in the vein of 2008’s Milk-his last well-received film-with Dead Man’s Wire. This true-crime story boasts an impressive cast, including Bill skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, and Colman Domingo. Van Sant’s return to form is a significant event, and this project has the potential to re-establish him as a major directorial voice.
Is Daniel Day-Lewis Back-Back?
Another title missing from festival slates, but generating considerable industry chatter, is Anemone.This feature marks the directorial debut of Ronan Day-Lewis, whose last name is, of course, not a coincidence. The project brought Ronan’s dear-old dad, Daniel-missing from screens since Phantom Thread-out of retirement for a second time. The question on everyone’s mind is: will one of the greatest actors of his generation stay back? his involvement alone makes Anemone a film to anticipate, even without a festival premiere declaration.
Can Steven Soderbergh Out-Soderbergh Himself?
Releasing two movies in a single year is old-hat for Steven Soderbergh. He’s done it a few times, and in one of those cases-2000 with Traffic and Erin Brockovich-he went up against himself for Best Director (and won). With the announcement of The Christophers, starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel and premiering at TIFF, that will bring Soderbergh’s 2025 total to three (after Presence and Black Bag). Could the Oscars bring about Soderbergh v. Soderbergh v. Soderbergh? (Almost definitely not, but it’s fun to imagine the sheer volume of his prolific output and the potential for critical acclaim across multiple projects.)