ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Venice Film Festival 2026: Herzog, McDonagh, and Controversy Over Male-Heavy Lineup

festival-fair · 2026-08-26

The 83rd Venice Film Festival opens next week on the Lido, running from 2-12 September. The lineup has already sparked controversy due to its male-heavy competition slate, with only one film by a woman director among the initial 20 films in competition: 'Woman Unknown' by May el-Toukhy. The controversy was slightly mitigated by the late addition of 'Naza' by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Other notable titles include Werner Herzog's 'Bucking Fastard' starring Rooney and Kate Mara as twins Joan and Jean Holbrooke, alongside Orlando Bloom; Florian Zeller's thriller 'Bunker' with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem; Mariano Llinás's 'Life of Jorge Luis Borges'; Julia Loktev's sequel 'My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile'; Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' with Cho Yeo-jeong and Jeon Do-yeon; Danny Boyle's 'Ink' about Rupert Murdoch's launch of The Sun, starring Guy Pearce; and Martin McDonagh's 'Wild Horse Nine' with John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell. The festival also features restorations including Jaromil Jireš's 1970 surrealist film 'Valerie and Her Week of Wonders' and Barbara Kopple's new documentary 'Union Town' about delivery workers in New York City. The festival is already in the news for its male-heavy lineup of directors.

Key facts

  • The 83rd Venice Film Festival runs 2-12 September on the Lido.
  • Only one film by a woman director was among the initial 20 films in competition: 'Woman Unknown' by May el-Toukhy.
  • 'Naza' by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor was added late to the lineup.
  • Werner Herzog's 'Bucking Fastard' stars Rooney and Kate Mara as twins, with Orlando Bloom.
  • Florian Zeller's 'Bunker' stars Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
  • Mariano Llinás's 'Life of Jorge Luis Borges' explores the writer's life.
  • Julia Loktev's 'My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile' follows journalists from TV Rain in exile.
  • Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' features Cho Yeo-jeong and Jeon Do-yeon.
  • Danny Boyle's 'Ink' is about Rupert Murdoch's launch of The Sun in 1969.
  • Martin McDonagh's 'Wild Horse Nine' is set on Easter Island before the 1973 Chilean coup.
  • Restorations include 'Valerie and Her Week of Wonders' (1970) by Jaromil Jireš.
  • Barbara Kopple's 'Union Town' documents delivery workers in New York City.

Entities

Artists

Institutions

  • Venice Film Festival
  • Biennale
  • A24
  • Miu Miu Women's Tales
  • TV Rain
  • The Sun
  • UPS
  • Amazon
  • DoorDash
  • Grubhub
  • No Other Land
  • Cannes Film Festival
  • Netflix
  • The Mirror
  • CIA
  • ICE
  • Cartier
  • OpenAI
  • IMDb
  • Biennale di Venezia
  • Meta
  • YouTube
  • Sun
  • Théâtre du Châtelet
  • Théâtre de la Ville
  • XY organization
  • Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Ukrainian Ministry of Culture
  • Golden Lion

Locations

  • Venice
  • Italy
  • Lido
  • Moscow
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • Tel Aviv
  • Israel
  • Gaza
  • Palestine
  • Germany
  • New York City
  • United States
  • Easter Island
  • Chile
  • Texas
  • Geneva
  • Switzerland
  • Reykjavik
  • Iceland
  • Harlan County
  • Appalachia
  • Britain
  • Prague
  • Czech Republic
  • Cannes
  • France
  • Iran
  • Canada
  • Turkey
  • South Korea
  • Japan
  • Santiago
  • Minnesota
  • Buenos Aires
  • Argentina
  • Paris
  • Kharkiv
  • Sweden
  • Minneapolis

Sources

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