Venice Rolls Out the Red Carpet: What to Watch as the 2026 Film Festival Begins

The film world's autumn awards season is about to begin, and as ever it starts on the water. The Venice Film Festival returns to the Lido for its 83rd edition, running from 2 to 12 September, with a lineup that promises a heavyweight mix of auteurs, stars and world premieres.

A Murdoch story opens the show

The festival gets under way with a timely and provocative choice. Danny Boyle's Ink, which plays in competition, opens proceedings on 2 September with a drama tracing the rise of the media magnate Rupert Murdoch and the newspaper world he built.

The film arrives with its future already secured. Netflix picked up Ink ahead of its world premiere, a sign of how the streaming giants continue to compete fiercely for the prestige titles that launch at festivals like Venice each year.

Masters of world cinema return

The competition reads like a roll call of celebrated directors. New films from Werner Herzog, Nanni Moretti, Hirokazu Koreeda and Martin McDonagh sit at the heart of a lineup built around some of the most respected names in world cinema.

Herzog brings one of the more intriguing pairings. His film Bucking Fastard stars the real life siblings Rooney Mara and Kate Mara, uniting the two sisters on screen under the direction of one of cinema's great living mavericks.

There are notable returns too. Lee Chang-dong is back after a decade away with Possible Love, while Koreeda arrives with Look Back, already his second drama of the year, underlining the relentless pace of some of the festival's leading figures.

Stars in front of and behind the camera

The cast lists carry serious star power. Florian Zeller's Bunker pairs Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, while Stephane Brize reunites with his regular leading man Vincent Lindon, alongside Alba Rohrwacher, for the drama Un Bon Petit Soldat.

Some familiar faces are stepping behind the camera. Casey Affleck directs his second feature, Company, with a cast that includes Nick Nolte, Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy, continuing a growing trend of actors turning to directing.

Others are taking on unexpected roles. Lance Oppenheim's Primetime casts Robert Pattinson as the television host Chris Hansen, a piece of against type casting that is likely to generate plenty of attention on the Lido.

A British flavour in the mix

For British audiences, there is plenty to follow. Danny Boyle's opening film and Martin McDonagh's spy period piece Wild Horse Nine give the United Kingdom a strong presence at the very top of a fiercely international competition.

That presence matters beyond national pride. A well received Venice premiere can set a British film on a path through the autumn festivals and into the awards conversation that stretches all the way to the following spring.

Honouring the greats

The festival is a place for celebration as well as for competition. This year, George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn will each receive a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement, honouring two careers that span very different eras of the film industry.

The starting gun for awards season

More than anything, Venice functions as a launch pad. The films that impress critics on the Lido often carry that momentum into Toronto, then toward the winter's biggest ceremonies, which is why the industry watches these opening days so very closely.

As the doors open on 2 September, the sense of anticipation is familiar but real. With auteurs returning, stars arriving and streamers circling, the 2026 Venice Film Festival looks set to fire the starting gun on another crowded and unpredictable awards season.