Venice's Golden Lion Enters The Watch For Best Film

The Festival is over, long live the Festival. It is a high season for film festivals. We have just summed up the results of Locarno Film Festival and here it is - the 76th Venice International Film Festival has been opened today in the framework of the annual La Biennale di Venezia.

21 films will be competing in the International Competition, including the newest work of the controversial director Roman Polanski J’accuse (An Officer And A Spy), Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas as well as the winner of the Palme d'Or in Cannes 2018 Kore-eda Hirokazu's La Vérité (The Truth), which will actually open the Festival tonight.

Apart from the Venezia 76 (International) Competition chaired by the Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel, the Festival will host several other events, including Orrizonti dedicated to the films representing the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema; Out of Competition with films of an expressive originality and spectacular dimension; Sconfini - a selection of different genres, length and targets; Venice Classics - a fine selection of restored classic movies and documentaries; and many others.

The Golden Lion for Best Film and Silver Lions for Best Director and Grand Jury Prize as well as other prestigious awards will find their new owners on September 7. Last year the Golden Lion went to Alfonso Cuaron’s black and white Roma, which made its way all up to the Oscars. Who's going to be the one this year to climb the ladder? We'll about to find out in a week.

However, one world-known director is to be acknowledged already tomorrow. On August 29 Pedro Almodóvar will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement for directors.