Thursday, July 14, 2016

Topic Of The Day: Venice Film Festival Predictions/Hopes


The announcement of the official lineup for the Venice Film Festival will be on July 28th and I am full of anticipation for what will be in store. I will dive into what films I think will make it in and share my thoughts on what films I would love to see make the cut.

First, I'll share my predictions for what I think will make the cut. Now the only feature film, so far, that we know is competing is La La Land which will open the festival. But another I have a feeling will make it in is Nocturnal Animals by Tom Ford and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams. Ford managed to score a Best Actor win at Venice for Colin Firth when he won for A Single Man back in 2009. So given his history with the festival, it's not hard to imagine the idea of him returning. Also, Silence from Martin Scorsese could be a contender. He's Scorsese and like Tom Ford, has a history with the festival since his magnum opus Goodfellas won him the Silver Lion for Best Director. Another possibility is Arrival from Denis Villeneuve and also starring Amy Adams. It has a November release date so a Venice slot will allow it to maintain some early buzz since it takes place in the beginning of September. But if both Arrival and Nocturnal Animals land a slot and manage to deliver, Amy Adams could be strong for the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, furthering her case for Best Actress in the actual Oscars.

As for films that I hope to see, though, there are plenty of those. I'd love to see a lot of female-centered films and after the debacle at Cannes over the underrepresentation of female directors, I hope that we see more films by female directors competing for the Golden Lion. Some I hope to see are A United Kingdom by Amma Asante, the lesbian drama Lovesong by So Yong Kim and Queen of Katwe by Mira Nair. Another film I'm hopeful to see is Una starring Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn. I'm still predicting Ben Mendelsohn to make it in for Supporting Actor and I hope a slot in Venice can get some buzz going and help it land a U.S. distributor which it doesn't have as of now. There's also the science fiction rom-com How To Talk To Girls At Parties starring Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman and directed by John Cameron Mitchell who guided Nicole Kidman to her third Oscar nomination for Rabbit Hole. 

So those are a few of my predictions/hopes for the upcoming Venice Film Festival and I'm very curious to see what will be in store for us. Please feel free to share what films you would love to see make it to Venice down in the comments section and thanks for reading!

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