A 4-hour Elon Musk documentary and a dark CIA comedy lead Venice Film Festival lineup - AP News

What the report says

The Associated Press reports that the Venice Film Festival has announced a September lineup led by Alex Gibney’s four-hour Elon Musk documentary “Musk” and Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” a dark comedy involving CIA agents in Chile before the 1973 coup. Artistic director Alberto Barbera presented the selections Thursday for the festival’s 83rd edition, positioning Venice as one of the first major stops in the fall film season that often shapes awards campaigns.

The competition slate includes “Wild Horse Nine,” starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, and “Primetime,” featuring Robert Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen. Other entries cited by AP include Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” with Rooney Mara and Kate Mara as identical twins; Florian Zeller’s “Bunker,” with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz as a married couple; Lee Chang-dong’s “Possible Love”; Stéphane Brizé’s “A Good Little Soldier”; and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back.” Casey Affleck’s “Company,” with Nick Nolte and Ben Mendelsohn, is also in competition, while Nanni Moretti is returning to the festival for the first time since 1989.

Documentaries are a major part of the program. AP says out-of-competition premieres include projects about Oasis, Russian independent journalists in exile, Everest, architect Peter Zumthor, Bernardo Bertolucci and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. Barbera said he expects Noel and Liam Gallagher to attend for the Oasis film, directed by Steven Knight and due in theaters Sept. 11.

The festival is scheduled to open Sept. 2 with Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” about Rupert Murdoch’s rise and adapted from James Graham’s stage play. “Ink” will compete for prizes including the Golden Lion, with Maggie Gyllenhaal leading this year’s jury.