Venice 83, the September 4 programme: two titles in competition and two restorations in Classics

The programme for September 4, 2026 at the Venice Film Festival includes two titles in Competition, three out-of-competition screenings and a world premiere backed by George Clooney, according to the day’s schedule reported by Almanacco Cinema, Bigodino and Libero Magazine. The three outlets report the same list of screenings and times: for verification purposes they count as a single source, which is why this piece confines itself to what the schedule states, without attributing to the day any outcomes or receptions that no source has yet observed.

The title in Competition indicated by the sources is ‘15/18 (A Place to Heal)’ by Cédric Kahn, scheduled for 5.00pm in Sala Grande, set in a child and adolescent psychiatric ward. The second film in competition on the day is not named in the material available: the figure, two, is the certain fact, not the complete list.

The non-competitive section is the one with the broadest geographical reach. Venezia Classici presents at 11.15am the restoration of ‘Abschied von Gestern’ by Alexander Kluge and at 2.00pm that of ‘To Be or Not to Be’ by Ernst Lubitsch: two archival recoveries placed in the daytime slot, ahead of the opening of the parallel sections. At 5.00pm the Giornate degli Autori present ‘Balcanica’ by Nicola Sorcinelli, shot in Italian, English and Dari — a multilingual setup that is, in the day’s schedule, the clearest signal of a selection that does not confine its gaze to the European perimeter.

This is confirmed by the meetings with filmmakers scheduled after the screenings, including those for ‘La maison du vent’ by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu in Orizzonti and ‘Faxian zhi lü’ by Dong Jie at the Settimana della Critica. These are the two events in which, according to the programme, the day moves outside the circuit of names already familiar to the Lido audience: in the collateral sections, not in Sala Grande.

On the more visible front, the sources indicate the return of George Clooney to the red carpet as executive producer of a world premiere. The title of the film does not appear in the material consulted, and cannot be inferred: the presence is reported, the work accompanying it remains to be verified.

One last practical detail emerges from the schedule. The day’s two most anticipated offerings — the Competition film in Sala Grande and the Giornate degli Autori premiere — are both fixed for 5.00pm, while the two Venezia Classici restorations occupy the 11.15am-2.00pm slot: those following the Mostra from the start of the programme cannot see both 5.00pm screenings on the same afternoon.

Sources: Almanacco Cinema; Bigodino; Libero Magazine. The three outlets reproduce the same official day programme and count as a single origin.