Star-Studded Venice Film Festival Kicks Off With Oscar Hopefuls and Major Documentaries

High-Profile Biopics and Star-Studded Slate

This year’s festival lineup features striking casting choices across multiple features. Robert Pattinson stars as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen in a dramatic feature, while Dakota Johnson appears as Marilyn Monroe and Guy Pearce takes on the role of Rupert Murdoch. Meanwhile, George Clooney is set to receive a lifetime achievement honor alongside Ellen Burstyn. On the narrative feature side, anticipation is building for films that typically serve as indicators for the Academy Awards race. Martin McDonagh returns to the festival with “Wild Horse Nine,” a 1970s CIA-set drama starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, following the Venice debuts of his previous projects. Additionally, filmmaker Florian Zeller presents “Bunker,” a psychological thriller starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

Timely Documentaries Draw Heavy Focus

Despite the heavy presence of major movie stars, substantial attention is expected to land on major documentary projects addressing figures of modern global power. Chief among them is Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary examining Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, a project that has spent nearly four years in development. Gibney stated to The Associated Press that his work on the project led him to view Musk less as an inventor and more as a confidence man. When the documentary was initially announced, Musk labeled it a hit piece on social media, to which Gibney responded publicly, How would you know? Gibney added that the film addresses a dark and dangerous topic, yet maintains a narrative structure that is ultimately a fun ride.

International Conflicts and Journalistic Exile

Beyond corporate power, the documentary slate addresses global conflict and freedom of the press. Julia Loktev presents My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile, a nearly six-hour project continuing her documentation of independent Russian journalists forced to flee their country following the invasion of Ukraine. Loktev noted that the subjects faced immediate choices between prison, altering their reporting, or indefinite exile. Concurrently, localized political groups such as Venice4Palestine have petitioned festival organizers to suspend all agreements with entities and institutions linked to the Israeli government and display Palestinian flags throughout the event space, though large-scale protests have not been organized for the current edition.