rewrite this title 82nd Venice Film Festival Selection – Baumbach, Bigelow, Lanthimos | FirstShowing.net

82nd Venice Film Festival Selection – Baumbach, Bigelow, Lanthimos

by Alex Billington July 22, 2025

The Venice Film Festival, known officially in Italian as Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, has officially announced its selection of films playing at the historic film festival in 2025. Celebrating their 82nd year (the oldest fest in the world), Venezia returns with a fury featuring an exciting line-up with a boatload of great films. Venice 2025 runs from August 27th to September 6th in just a few months. The highlights: Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia (I remember how Poor Things rocked us all!), Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, Julian Schnabel’s In the Hand of Dante, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly with George Clooney. And, of course, many of other movies to discover when they premiere on the Lido in Venice in a few months. I’ll be back again as always for this fall festival to watch and report back on the new films. I’m already looking forward to diving into screenings all day, every day, to find the best of the best. Full Venice 2025 list below.

Here’s the complete selection of 2025 films directly from Venice, including the director for easy reference.

OPENING NIGHT FILM:La Grazia – dir. Paolo Sorrentino

COMPETITION (VENEZIA 82):The Wizard of the Kremlin – dir. Olivier AssayasJay Kelly – dir. Noah BaumbachThe Voice of Hind Rajab – dir. Kaouther Ben HaniaA House of Dynamite – dir. Kathryn BigelowThe Sun Rises on Us All – dir. Cai ShangjunFrankenstein – dir. Guillermo del ToroElisa – dir. Leonardo Di CostanzoOn the Job (À Pied d’Oeuvre) – dir. Valérie DonzelliSilent Friend – dir. Ildikó EnyediThe Testament of Ann Lee – dir. Mona FastvoldFather Mother Sister Brother – dir. Jim JarmuschBugonia – dir. Yorgos LanthimosDuse – dir. Pietro MarcelloUn Film Fatto Per Bene – dir. Franco MarescoOrphan (Árva) – dir. László NemesThe Stranger (L’Étranger) – dir. François OzonNo Other Choice – dir. Park Chan-wookBelow The Clouds – dir. Gianfranco RosiThe Smashing Machine – dir. Benny SafdieGirl (Nühai) – dir. Shu Qi

OUT OF COMPETITION (FICTION):After the Hunt – dir. Luca GuadagninoDog 51 (Chien 51) – dir. Cédric JimenezSermon to the Void – dir. Hilal BaydarovL’Isola di Andrea – dir. Antonio CapuanoIl Maestro – dir. Andrea Di StefanoScarlet (果てしなきスカーレット) – dir. Mamoru HosodaThe Last Viking – dir. Anders Thomas JensenIn the Hand of Dante – dir. Julian SchnabelLa Valle Dei Sorrisi – dir. Paolo StrippoliDead Man’s Wire – dir. Gus Van SantOrfeo – dir. Virgilio Villoresi

OUT OF COMPETITION (NON-FICTION):Kabul, Between Prayers – dir. Aboozar AminiFerdinando Scianna – Il Fotografo Dell’ombra – dir. Roberto AndòMarc by Sofia – dir. Sofia CoppolaI Diari di Angela — Noi Due Cineasti. Capitolo Terzo – dirs. Yervant GIanikian & Angela Ricci LucchiGhost Elephants – dir. Werner HerzogMy Father and Qaddafi (Baba Wa Al-Qadhafi) – dir. Jihan KThe Tale of Silyan – dir. Tamara KotevskaNuestra Tierra – dir. Lucrecia MartelRemake – dir. Ross McElweeKim Novak’s Vertigo – dir. Alexandre PhilippeCover-Up – dirs. Laura Poitras & Mark ObenhausBroken English – dirs. Jane Pollard & Iain ForsythNotes of a True Criminal – dirs. Alexander Rodnyansky & Andriy AlferovDirector’s Diary – dir. Aleksandr SokurovBack Home (Hui Jia) – dir. Tsai Ming-liang

OUT OF COMPETITION (SPECIAL):Nino. 18 Giorni – dir. Toni D’AngeloPiero Pelù. Rumore Dentro – dir. Francesco FeiNewport and the Great Folk Dream – dir. Robert GordonFrancesco de Gregori – dir. Stefano Pistolini

HORIZONS (ORIZZONTI):Mother – dir. Teona Strugar MitevskaDivine Comedy (Komedie Elahi) – dir. Ali AsgariHiedra – dir. Ana Cristina BarragánIl Rapimento di Arabella – dir. Carolina CavalliStrange River (Estrany Riu) – dir. Jaume Claret MuxartLost Land (Harà Watan) – dir. Akio FujimotoGrand Ciel – dir. Akihiro HataRose of Nevada – dir. Mark JenkinLate Fame – dir. Kent JonesMilk Teeth (Dinți de Lapte) – dir. Mihai MincanPin de Fartie – dir. Alejo MoguillanskyFather (Otec) – dir. Tereza NvotováEn el Camino – dir. David PablosSongs of Forgotten Trees – dir. Anuparna RoyUn Anno di Scuola – dir. Laura SamaniThe Souffleur – dir. Gastón SolnickiBarrio Triste – dir. StillzHuman Resource – dir. Nawapol ThamrongrattanaritFuneral Casino Blues – dir. Roderick Warich

VENICE SPOTLIGHT:Hijra – dir. Shahad AmeenUn Cabo Suelto – dir. Daniel HendlerMade in EU – dir. Stephan KomandarevMotor City – dir. Potsy PonciroliLa Hija de La Española – dir. Mariana Rondón, Marité UgasÀ Bras-Le-Corps – dir. Marie-Elsa SgualdoCalle Malaga – dir. Maryam TouzaniAmmazzare Stanca – dir. Daniele Vicari

So that’s the line-up for Venice 2025, one of the best selections in years for this festival. The main comp section looks fully stacked – I want to watch almost every last one of these competition premieres! So many that sound like potential bangers. I’m sure many of them will be fantastic! There are a few others missing, most notably: Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player, & Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another (though honestly I wasn’t expecting this one to show up in Venice anyway). TIFF also has programmed a number of world premieres that I wanted to see in Venice, including Rental Family with Brendan Fraser and Roofman from Derek Cianfrance. There are other surprises in this selection that I will be watching: Gus Van Sant’s back with Dead Man’s Wire about a hostage situation, plus Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada, Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend about a tree, and Herzog’s new doc on elephants. I’m hopeful many of these will be worth the wait and live up to expectations. We’ll see…! I’m ready to return to Venice again and to start screening and discovering everything that’ll make us dance with happiness. Viva cinema!

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