Along with Cannes,<\/a> Venice \u2014 which runs from Aug. 28 through Sept. 7 \u2014 is one of the most glamorous launching pads for awards season. The films that do well on the Lido will be dominating the conversation until the Oscars in March.<\/a><\/p>\n In this year’s lineup, there\u2019s both big Hollywood fare (\u201cBeetlejuice Beetlejuice\u201d and \u201cHorizon: An American Saga\u2014Chapter 2\u201d<\/a> to \u201cWolfs\u201d) and a vast array of intriguing films from auteurs around the world. At festivals, the best thing is to keep an open mind and see as much as possible<\/a> \u2014 you never know what might hit. In the meantime, though, here are 10 films to get excited about at Venice.<\/p>\n No matter which side of the \u201cJoker\u201d discourse<\/a> you were on five years ago, the fact that all involved would bring the sequel back to Venice to play in competition is promising. \u201cJoker: Folie \u00e0 Deux\u201d<\/a> doesn\u2019t need the festival buzz, after all. The first film made over $1 billion and was nominated for 11 Oscars.<\/a> Venice chief Alberto Barbera told Deadline that it\u2019s completely different from the first, a dystopian musical that is \u201cone of the most daring, brave and creative films in recent American cinema\u201d and \u201cconfirms Todd Phillips as one of the most creative directors working at the moment.\u201d It\u2019ll be in theaters Oct. 4.<\/p>\n \nA still from \u2018Joker: Folie \u00e0 Deux\u2019\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larra\u00edn<\/a> is not to be ignored when he makes a film about a famous woman with a tragic narrative (see: \u201cSpencer,\u201d<\/a> \u201cJackie\u201d). This time he\u2019s teamed with screenwriter Steven Knight (\u201cPeaky Blinders\u201d) and Jolie to bring opera singer Maria Callas<\/a> back to life in \u201cMaria.\u201d The soprano was a tabloid fixture, perhaps most famous for her affair with Aristotle Onassis, who would end up leaving her for another of Larra\u00edn\u2019s tragic women: Jacqueline Kennedy.<\/a> Callas died in 1977, at age 53, but remains one of classical music\u2019s bestselling artists. \u201cMaria\u201d is playing in competition and seeking distribution.<\/p>\n Luca Guadagnino<\/a> returns to Venice with \u201cQueer,\u201d an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novel, starring Daniel Craig<\/a> in a performance that Barbera has called \u201ccareer defining.\u201d It follows an American expat to Mexico City on a quest for a drug. There, he encounters all sorts of characters and develops an obsession with a young man. The novel was written in the early 1950s, a sort of companion piece to \u201cJunkie,\u201d but not published until 1985. Others have attempted to adapt it before, including Steve Buscemi and Oren Moverman. \u201cQueer\u201d is also seeking distribution. <\/p>\n Pedro Almod\u00f3var\u2019s<\/a> English-language debut, with Julianne Moore<\/a> and Tilda Swinton<\/a> starring? We barely even need a description to get excited about that, which is probably good because details are vague. He\u2019s said that it\u2019s about an imperfect mother and a resentful daughter who are estranged because of a \u201cprofound misunderstanding.\u201d In addition to tackling subjects like war, death, friendship and sexual pleasure, Almod\u00f3var said, \u201cit also talks about the pleasure of waking up to birds bringing a new day at a house built on a natural reserve in New England.\u201d It\u2019ll also make a stop at the New York Film Festival<\/a> before a December release.<\/p>\n Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn made the wildly fun \u201cBodies Bodies Bodies,\u201d<\/a> so we\u2019re especially curious what \u201cBabygirl\u201d holds. The erotic thriller stars Nicole Kidman<\/a> (who 25 years ago came to Venice with \u201cEyes Wide Shut\u201d) as a powerful CEO who begins an affair with a younger intern played by Harris Dickinson<\/a> (\u201cTriangle of Sadness,\u201d \u201cThe Iron Claw\u201d). Antonio Banderas<\/a> also co-stars. A24 plans a December theatrical release.<\/p>\n This 3 1\/2-hour drama from filmmaker Brady Corbet<\/a> follows architect L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Toth (Adrien Brody)<\/a> and his wife Erzs\u00e9bet (Felicity Jones)<\/a> on a decadeslong journey as they flee Europe following World War II and attempt to set up a life in America. There, Toth meets industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce),<\/a> who commissions him to design a modernist monument, changing their lives for better and worse. Corbet (\u201cVox Lux\u201d) is not always going to be a filmmaker for everyone, but he\u2019s never not interesting. Focus Features and Universal are distributing, but the movie does not yet have a release date.<\/p>\n There are quite a few innovative offerings in the nonfiction space: Errol Morris\u2019<\/a> \u201cSeparated,\u201d about the Trump administration\u2019s border policy; Asif Kapadia\u2019s<\/a> future-looking \u201c2073\u201d; \u201cPavements,\u201d Alex Ross Perry\u2019s hybrid doc about the Stephen Malkmus band;<\/a> and Andres Veiel’s \u201cRiefenstahl.\u201d But only one made it to the main competition: Wang Bing\u2019s \u201cYouth (Homecoming),\u201d the conclusion to his verit\u00e9 documentary trilogy<\/a> in which he followed migrant workers in Zhili, China\u2019s textile factories across five years. It’s seeking distribution.<\/p>\n Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili\u2019s<\/a> sophomore film is about Nina, an OB-GYN working in rural Georgia who also performs abortions, despite the laws of the country. When a newborn dies in her care, an investigation fuels rumors about her morality and professionalism. Three years after the abortion drama \u201cHappening\u201d<\/a> snagged the top prize at Venice, the buzz is that this will be one of the breakouts. Kulumbegashvili\u2019s debut, \u201cBeginning,\u201d about the bombing of a Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses church, made waves on the festival circuit in 2020. \u201cApril,\u201d which is seeking a U.S. distributor, is also set to play at TIFF and the New York Film Festival. <\/p>\n Jude Law<\/a> produced and stars in this 1980s-set crime thriller about a white supremacist group who his FBI agent character suspects is tied to a series of crimes in the Pacific Northwest. Nicholas Hoult<\/a> plays the group’s charismatic leader in the Justin Kurzel-directed<\/a> film, to be released in theaters in December. <\/p>\n \u201cAttenberg\u201d and \u201cChevalier\u201d filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari<\/a> returns to the main competition with \u201cHarvest,\u201d an adaptation of the Jim Crace novel set in a medieval English village where the locals use three newcomers as scapegoats for economic turmoil. It’s apparently the reason star Caleb Landry Jones did his \u201cDogman\u201d press with a Scottish accent last year<\/a>. Mubi has distribution rights in several European territories, but no dates or U.S. plans have been announced. <\/p>\n This is not a film, but this series coming to AppleTV+ on Oct. 11 is from Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n,<\/a> who wrote and directed the seven-episode psychological thriller starring Cate Blanchett<\/a> and Kevin Kline.<\/a> Blanchett plays a journalist who discovers she’s a character in a novel that reveals her dark secret.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/entertainment\/movies\/ya14di\/article68549693.ece\/alternates\/SQUARE_80\/1_XkzHYHgAplvJqbz5dluZig.jpg\")
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<\/picture><\/div>\n\nA still from Luca Guadagnino\u2019s \u2018Queer\u2019\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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