| 78th Venice International Film Festival | |
| Opening: | Parallel Mothers |
| Closing: | Il Bambino Nascosto |
| Location: | Venice, Italy |
| Founded: | 1932 |
| Awards: | Golden Lion |
| Host: | Serena Rossi |
| Number: | 92 |
| Date: | 1 – 11 September 2021 |
| Chronology: | Venice Film Festival |
| Preceded By: | 77th |
| Followed By: | 79th |
The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021.[1]
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho was the Jury President of the main competition, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked as the festival's top juror.[2] [3] Serena Rossi hosted the opening and closing nights.[4] The Golden Lion was awarded to Happening directed by Audrey Diwan.[5]
The following films were selected for the main international competition:[7]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| America Latina | data-sort-value="D'Innocenzo" | Italy | ||
| Another World | Un autre monde | data-sort-value="Brizé" | France | |
| The Box | La caja | data-sort-value="Vigas" | Mexico, United States | |
| Captain Volkonogov Escaped | Капитан Волконогов бежал | data-sort-value="Chupov" | Russia | |
| The Card Counter | data-sort-value="Schrader" | United States | ||
| Freaks Out | data-sort-value="Mainetti" | Italy, Belgium | ||
| The Hand of God | È stata la mano di Dio | data-sort-value="Sorrentino" | Italy | |
| Happening | L'Événement | data-sort-value="Diwan" | Audrey Diwan | France |
| Il buco | data-sort-value="Frammartino" | Italy, France, Germany | ||
| Leave No Traces | Żeby nie było śladów | data-sort-value="Matuszynski" | Poland, France, Czech Republic | |
| The Lost Daughter | data-sort-value="Gyllenhaal" | United States, Greece | ||
| Lost Illusions | Illusions perdues | data-sort-value="Giannoli" | France | |
| Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon | data-sort-value="Amirpour" | United States | ||
| Official Competition | Competencia oficial | data-sort-value="Duprat" | Spain | |
| data-sort-value="Matti" | Philippines | |||
| Parallel Mothers (opening film) | Madres paralelas | data-sort-value="Almodóvar" | Spain | |
| The Power of the Dog | data-sort-value="Campion" | United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Canada, New Zealand | ||
| The King of Laughter | Qui rido io | data-sort-value="Martone" | Italy, Spain | |
| Reflection | Відблиск | data-sort-value="Vasyanovych" | Ukraine | |
| Spencer | data-sort-value="Larrain" | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Chile | ||
| Sundown | data-sort-value="Franco" | Mexico, France, Sweden | ||
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction | ||||
| The Accusation | Les Choses Humaines | Yvan Attal | France | |
| The Catholic School | La scuola cattolica | Stefano Mordini | Italy | |
| Dune | data-sort-value="Villeneuve" | United States | ||
| Halloween Kills | data-sort-value="Green" | |||
| The Hidden Child | Il bambino nascosto (closing film) | Roberto Andò | Italy, France | |
| The Inner Cage | Ariaferma | Leonardo Di Costanzo | Italy, Switzerland | |
| The Last Duel | data-sort-value="Scott" | United Kingdom, United States | ||
| Last Night in Soho | data-sort-value="Wright" | United Kingdom | ||
| Old Henry | Potsy Ponciroli | United States | ||
| Non Fiction | ||||
| Becoming Led Zeppelin | United States | |||
| Deandré#Deandré Storio di un Impiegato | Roberta Lena | Italy | ||
| Django & Django | Luca Rea | |||
| Ennio | Giuseppe Tornatore | Italy, Belgium, Japan, Holland | ||
| Ezio Bosso: Le cose che restano | Giorgio Verdelli | Italy | ||
| Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine | United States | |||
| Life of Crime 1984-2020 | Jon Alpert | |||
| Republic of Silence | Diana El Jeiroudi | France, Germany, Syria | ||
| Loup Bureau | France | |||
| Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo | Augusto Contento | France, Italy | ||
| Series | ||||
| Scenes from a Marriage (5 episodes) | Hagai Levi | United States | ||
| Short Films | ||||
| The Night | 良夜不能留 | Tsai Ming-liang | Taiwan | |
| Plastic Semiotic | Radu Jude | Romania | ||
| Sad Film | Vasili | Myanmar, Netherlands | ||
The following films were selected for the Horizons (Italian: Orizzonti) section:[13]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantide | Yuri Ancarani | Italy, France, United States, Qatar | |
| Miracle | Miracol | Bogdan George Apetri | Romania, Czech Republic, Latvia |
| Pilgrims | Piligrimai | Laurynas Bareiša | Lithuania |
| The Peacock's Paradise | Il Paradiso del Pavone | Italy, Germany | |
| The Falls | 瀑布 | Taiwan | |
| The Hole in the Fence | El hoyo en la cerca | Joaquín del Paso | Mexico, Poland |
| Amira | أميرة | Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia | |
| Full Time | À Plein Temps | Éric Gravel | France |
| 107 Mothers | Cenzorka | Peter Kerekes | Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine |
| Vera Dreams of the Sea | Vera Andrron Detin | Kaltrina Krasniqi | Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia |
| Promises | Les Promesses | France | |
| White Building | Bodeng Sar | Kavich Neang | Cambodia, France, China, Qatar |
| Anatomy of Time | Wela | Jakrawal Nilthamrong | Thailand, France, Netherlands, Singapore, Germany |
| The Other Tom | El otro Tom | Mexico, United States | |
| The Great Movement | El Gran Movimiento | Kiro Russo | Bolivia, France, Qatar, Switzerland |
| Once Upon a Time in Calcutta | India, France, Norway | ||
| Rhino | Носоріг | Ukraine, Poland, Germany | |
| True Things | United Kingdom | ||
| Inu-Oh | 犬王 | Japan | |
The following films were selected to the Orizzonti Extra section:[14]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Prisoners | 7 Prisioneiros | Alexandre Moratto | Brasil |
| The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic | Sokea mies, joka ei halunnut nähdä Titanicia | Teemu Nikki | Finland |
| Costa Brava, Lebanon | كوستا برافا، لبنان | Mounia Akl | Lebanon, France, Qatar, Spain, Sweden |
| The Girl Flew | La ragazza ha volato | Italy, Slovenia | |
| Land Of Dreams | United States, Germany, Qatar | ||
| La macchina delle immagini di Alfredo C. | Roland Sejko | Italy | |
| Mama, I'm Home | Мама, я дома | Russia | |
| My Night | Ma Nuit | Antoinette Boulat | France, Belgium |
The following films were selected for the Biennale College - Cinema section.[15] [16]
| English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Oriente | José María Avilés | Ecuador | ||
| The Cathedral | Ricky D'Ambrose | United States | ||
| Lavrynthos (VR) | Fabito Rychter and Amir Admoni | Brazil, Peru | ||
| Our Father, the Devil | Ellie Foumbi | United States, France | ||
| Our Happiest Days | Nuestros Días Más Felices | Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière | Argentine | |
| Blessed Boys | La Santa Piccola | Silvia Brunelli | Italy | |
| La Tana | Beatrice Baldacci | Italy | ||
The lineup of films selected for the 36th Venice International Critics' Week is as follows:[17]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Competition | ||||
| They Carry Death | Eles transportan a morte | Samuel M. Delgado, Helena Girón | Spain, Colombia | |
| Erasing Frank | Eltörölni Frankot | Hungary | ||
| Mondocane | Alessandro Celli | Italy | ||
| Mother Lode | Matteo Tortone | France, Italy, Switzerland | ||
| Detours | Obchodnye puti | Ekaterina Selenkina | Russia | |
| The Salamander | A salamandra | Alex Carvalho | Brazil, France, Germany | |
| Zalava | Arsalan Amiri | Iran | ||
| Out of Competition | ||||
| Karmalink (opening film) | Jake Wachtel | Cambodia, United States | ||
| The Last Chapter (closing film) | La Dernière Séance | Gianluca Matarrese | Italy, France | |
The following films were selected for the Giornate degli Autori (aka Venice Days) section:[18]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Competition | ||||
| Anatomy | Anatomia | Ola Jankowska | Poland, France | |
| Californie | Italy | |||
| Private Desert | Deserto Particular | Aly Muritiba | Brazil, Portugal | |
| Madeleine Collins | Antoine Barraud | France, Belgium, Switzerland | ||
| The Stranger | Al-Ḡarīb | Ameer Fakher Eldin | Syria, Germany, Palestine, Qatar | |
| Immaculate | Imaculat | Monica Stan, George Chiper-Lillemark | Romania | |
| Dusk Stone | Piedra noche | Iván Fund | Argentina, Chile, Spain | |
| Shen Kong | Chen Guan | China | ||
| Out of Sync | Tres | Juanjo Giménez | Spain, Lithuania, Germany | |
| You Resemble Me | Tu me ressembles | Egypt, France, United States | ||
| Out of competition | ||||
| Lovely Boy | Francesco Lettieri | Italy | ||
| Special events | ||||
| The Forgotten Ones | Mizrahim, les oubliés de la terre promise | Michale Boganim | France, Israel | |
| Il Palazzo | Federica Di Giacomo | Italy, Czech Republic | ||
| Senza fine | Elisa Fuksas | Italy | ||
| The Great Silence | Il silenzio grande | Alessandro Gassmann | Italy, Poland | |
| Bianca Stigter | Netherlands | |||
| Venice Nights | ||||
| Caveman | Tommaso Landucci | Italy, Switzerland | ||
| Cùntami | Giovanna Taviani | Italy | ||
| Sons of Cain | Les Enfants de Caïn | Keti Stamo | France, Albania, Italy | |
| Fellini and the Shadow | Fellini e l'ombra | Catherine McGilvray | Italy, Switzerland | |
| Giulia | Ciro De Caro | Italy | ||
| Hugo in Argentina | Switzerland | |||
| Isolation | Michele Placido, Julia von Heinz, Olivier Guerpillon, Jaco Van Dormael, Michael Winterbottom | Italy, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, United Kingdom | ||
| The World in Shots | Il mondo a scatti | Cecilia Mangini, Paolo Pisanelli | Italy | |
| Our Ghosts | I nostri fantasmi | Alessandro Capitani | Italy | |
| Princesa | Stefania Muresu | Italy | ||
| With or Without You | Una relazione | Stefano Sardo | Italy | |
| Spin Time | Sabina Guzzanti | Italy | ||
| Tonino de Bernardi - Un tempo, un incontro | Daniele Segre | Italy | ||
| Welcome Venice | Andrea Segre | Italy | ||
| Women's Tales Project | ||||
| Isabel Sandoval | Italy, United States | ||
| Kaouther Ben Hania | Italy, France | ||
The following official awards were presented at the 78th Edition:[19]
The Hand of God by Paolo Sorrentino
The Power of the Dog by Jane Campion
Penélope Cruz for Parallel Mothers
John Arcilla for
The Lost Daughter by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Il buco by Michelangelo Frammartino
Filippo Scotti for The Hand of God
The following awards were presented by independent juries:[22]