The 80th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2023, at Venice Lido in Italy.
Alberto Barbera, Venice's artistic director, acknowledged that the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was likely to impact the festival if it was not resolved in time, due to the strike rules that prevent all actors from taking part in any kind of promotional activities for their films. Nevertheless, the festival proceeded though fewer Hollywood celebrities than usual were in attendance, while an increase of European titles in all sections was expected. The world premieres of some upcoming award season hot titles expected to premiere at Venice, such as Ethan Coen's Drive-Away-Dolls, ended up delayed. As the strike was ongoing, some American films announced the absence of the cast in the red carpet of their world premieres, including Bradley Cooper, director/writer/producer and actor of Maestro.
American filmmaker Damien Chazelle served as Jury President for the main competition. Italian actress Caterina Murino hosted the opening and closing nights of the festival. The Golden Lion was awarded to Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Italian director Liliana Cavani and Chinese/Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai were both awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the festival.
The festival opened with Comandante by Edoardo De Angelis. Luca Guadagnino's Challengers was originally scheduled to have its world premiere as the festival's opening film, but MGM/Amazon chose to withdraw it and delay its release due to the ongoing 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. J. A. Bayona's Society of the Snow was the closing film.
Juries
Main Competition (Venezia 80) Damien Chazelle, American filmmaker - Jury President Saleh Bakri, Palestinian actor Jane Campion, New Zealand filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve, French filmmaker and actress Gabriele Mainetti, Italian filmmaker Martin McDonagh, British-Irish filmmaker and playwright Santiago Mitre, Argentine filmmaker Laura Poitras, American filmmaker Shu Qi, Chinese actress and model
Orizzonti Jonas Carpignano, Italian filmmaker - Jury President Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisian filmmaker Kahlil Joseph, American filmmaker, music video director, and video artist Jean-Paul Salomé, French filmmaker Tricia Tuttle, programmer and director of the BFI London Film Festival and the BFI Flare: London LGBTQI+ Film Festival
Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Debut Film Alice Diop, French filmmaker - Jury President Faouzi Bensaïdi, Moroccan filmmaker Laura Citarella, Argentinian director and producer , Italian director and screenwriter Chloe Domont, American filmmaker
Venice Classics
Andrea Pallaoro, Italian filmmaker - Jury President
Venice Immersive
Singing Chen, Taiwanese filmmaker and music composer - Jury President Pedro Harres, Brazilian director, animator, screenwriter and multimedia artist German Heller, Argentinian animator and producer
Official Selection
In Competition (Venezia 80) The following films were selected for the main competition: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production CountryAdagioStefano SollimaItaly The Beast La Bête Bertrand Bonello France, CanadaComandante (opening film) Edoardo De Angelis ItalyDogman Luc Besson FranceEl Conde Pablo Larraín ChileEnea Pietro Castellitto Italy Evil Does Not Exist 悪は存在しない Ryusuke Hamaguchi JapanFerrari Michael Mann United StatesFinally DawnFinalmente l'albaSaverio Costanzo Italy Green Border Zielona granica Agnieszka Holland Poland, France, Czech Republic, BelgiumHolly Fien Troch Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, FranceIo capitano Matteo Garrone Italy, BelgiumThe Killer David Fincher United StatesLubo Giorgio Diritti Italy, SwitzerlandMaestro Bradley Cooper United StatesMemory Michel FrancoMexico, United StatesOrigin Ava DuVernayUnited States Out of Season Hors-saison Stéphane Brizé FrancePoor ThingsYorgos Lanthimos United Kingdom, Ireland, United StatesPriscilla Sofia Coppola United States, Italy The Promised Land Bastarden Nikolaj Arcel Denmark, Germany, SwedenThe Universal TheoryDie Theorie von allemTimm KrögerGermany, Austria, SwitzerlandWoman Of...Kobieta z...Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał EnglertPoland, Sweden Out of Competition The following films were selected to be screened out of competition: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production CountryFiction Aggro Dr1ft Harmony Korine United States The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial William Friedkin Coup de chance Woody Allen France, United Kingdom Daaaaaalí! Quentin Dupieux France Hit Man Richard Linklater United States The Order of Time L'ordine del tempo Liliana Cavani Italy, Belgium Making Of Cédric Kahn France On the Pulse Vivants Alix Delaporte France, Belgium The Palace Roman Polanski Italy, Switzerland, Poland, France The Penitent - A Rational Man Luca Barbareschi Italy Society of the Snow (closing film) La sociedad de la nieve J. A. Bayona Uruguay, Spain, Chile Snow Leopard 雪豹 Pema Tseden China The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Wes Anderson United StatesNon Fiction Amor Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri Italy, Lithuania Enzo Jannacci vengo anch'io Giorgio Verdelli Italy Frente a Guernica (Director's Cut) , Hollywoodgate Ibrahim Nash'at Germany, United States Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros Frederick Wiseman France, United States Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus Neo Sora JapanSeries I Know Your Soul (episodes 1 and 2) Znam kako dišeš Alen Drljević, Nemin Hamzagić Bosnia and Herzegovina Of Money and Blood (12 episodes) D'argent et de sang Xavier Giannoli, Frédéric Planchon FranceShort Films Welcome to Paradise Leonardo Di Costanzo Italy
Special Screening The following films were selected to have a Special Screening: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production CountryThe Lion's Share: A History of the Mostra La parte del leone: una storia della Mostra Baptiste Etchegaray, Giuseppe Bucchi France, Italy
Orizzonti The following films were selected to the Orizzonti main competition: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Behind the Mountains Oura el jbel Mohamed Ben Attia Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar City of Wind Сэр сэр салхи Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir France, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, QatarDormitoryYurtNehir TunaTurkey, Germany, France El paraíso Enrico Maria Artale Italy An Endless Sunday Una sterminata domenica Alain Parroni Italy, Germany, IrelandExplanation for EverythingMagyarázat mindenreGábor ReiszHungary, Slovakia The Featherweight Robert Kolodny United States For Night Will ComeEn attendant la nuitCéline RouzetFrance, BelgiumGasoline RainbowBill Ross, Turner RossUnited States Heartless Sem Coração , Tião Brazil, France, ItalyHesitation WoundTereddüt çİzgİsİSelman NacarTurkey, Spain, Romania, FranceHousekeeping for BeginnersDomakinstvo za pocetniciGoran StolevskiNorth Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo Nowhere Invelle Simone Massi Italy, Switzerland Paradise Is Burning Paradiset brinner Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland The Red Suitcase Fidel Devkota Nepal, Sri Lanka Shadow of Fire ほかげ Shinya Tsukamoto Japan Tatami Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahimi Georgia, United States Upon Open Sky A cielo abierto Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga Mexico, Spain Orizzonti Extra The following films were selected to the Orizzonti Extra section: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Day of the Fight Jack Huston United States The Dreamer L'homme d'Argile Anaïs Tellenne France Felicità Micaela Ramazzotti Italy Forever-Forever Назавжди-Назавжди Anna Buryachkova Ukraine, Netherlands In the Land of Saints and Sinners Robert Lorenz Ireland Pet Shop Days Olmo Schnabel United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Mexico Phantom Youth Bota jonë Luàna Bajrami Kosovo, France The Rescue: The Weight of the World El rapto Argentina, United States Stolen Karan Tejpal India
Venice Classics Venice Classics is the section that since 2012 has presented world premiere screenings at the Venice Film Festival of a selection of the best restorations of film classics carried out over the past year by film archives, cultural institutions and production companies around the world. The section usually also presents a selection of documentaries about cinema. Director and screenwriter Andrea Pallaoro will chair a Jury of Film Students which will award the Venice Classics prizes for the respective competitions for Best Restored Film and for the Best Documentary About Cinema. The Jury chaired will be composed of 24 students, each of them recommended by professors of film studies from various Italian universities. The following films were selected to the Venice Classics section: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production CountryRestored Films - Main CompetitionAndrei Rublev – Director's Cut (1966)Андрей РублёвAndrei TarkovskySoviet UnionBellissima (1951)Luchino ViscontiItalyBugis Street (1995)妖街皇后YonfanHong KongThe Creatures (1966)Les CréaturesAgnès VardaFranceDays of Heaven (1978)Terrence MalickUnited StatesDeep Crimson – Director's Cut (1996)Profundo CarmesíArturo RipsteinMexico, Spain, FranceThe Exorcist (1973)William FriedkinUnited StatesHarmonica (1973)سازدهنیAmir NaderiIranThe Hunt (1966)La cazaCarlos SauraSpainJungle Holocaust (1977)Ultimo Mondo CannibaleRuggero DeodatoItalyKing & Country (1964)Joseph LoseyUnited KingdomLife of a Shock Force Worker (1972)Slike iz života udarnikaBahrudin Bato ČengicYugoslaviaMoving (1993)お引越しShinji SômaiJapanOne from the Heart: Director's Cut (1982)Francis Ford CoppolaUnited StatesRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)Allan DwanShadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)Тіні забутих предківSergei ParajanovSoviet UnionThere Was a Father (1942)父ありきYasujiro OzuJapanThe Wayward Life (1953)La provincialeMario SoldatiItalyThe Working Girls (1974)Stephanie RothmanUnited StatesRestored Films - Out of CompetitionPortrait of Gina (1958)Orson WellesUnited States, ItalyDocumentaries about CinemaBill Douglas: My Best FriendJack ArcherUnited KingdomDario Argento PanicoSimone ScafidiLe Film Pro-Nazi d’HitchcockDaphné BaiwirFranceFrank Capra: Mr. AmericaMatthew WellsUnited KingdomKen Jacobs: From Orchard Street to the Museum of Modern ArtFred RiedelUnited StatesLandriánErnesto DaranasCuba, SpainMichel Gondry: Do It YourselfFrançois NemetaFranceThank You Very MuchAlex BravermenUnited StatesUn’altra Italia era possibile: il cinema di Giuseppe De SantisStefano Della CasaItaly
Venice Immersive The Venice Immersive is entirely devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression, from 360° videos to XR works of any length, including installations and virtual worlds. The following projects were selected for the XR - Extended Reality section of La Biennale di Venezia: