Venice 83: Clooney opens the festival, Herzog, Affleck and McDonagh in competition

Alberto Barbera has presented the official selection of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, which includes the Venezia 83, Orizzonti, Venezia Spotlight, Venezia Classici and Venice Immersive sections. The festival, directed by Barbera, takes place at the Venice Lido from September 2 to 12, 2026, and opens with George Clooney.

Among the films in competition in the main section are works by Werner Herzog, Casey Affleck and Martin McDonagh, three authors who bring cinematic styles distant from one another to the lagoon. The available sources do not specify the exact titles of the films presented by each of the three directors, nor their plots.

Among the announced titles is also the concert film dedicated to Oasis, “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” which follows the reconciliation between Liam and Noel Gallagher and the band’s return to touring. It is a music documentary that joins the fiction feature films in the festival’s program, broadening the range of formats presented this year.

Online ticket sales for the public began on August 11 at 3 p.m., the day before this edition. The full schedule of screenings open to the public is available on the Venice Biennale website, which released the official statement regarding both the selection of films and the opening of sales.

The available sources do not report, at this time, the name of the jury that will award the prizes in the main section, nor further details on the other sections of the event, particularly Orizzonti and Venezia Spotlight.

Both pieces of news currently come from a single source, traceable to official statements from the Venice Biennale; there is no independent confirmation of the selection’s contents or of the ticket sales figures.

The set calendar, from September 2 to 12, remains the concrete reference point around which public participation will be organized this year.