2022 Venice Film Festival

Tilda Swinton uses fashion to pay homage to the Ukraine war, Rachel-Brosnahan in Versace & Rocio Munoz Morales, and Bianca Niculae in an elegant red carpet at the Venice Film Festival. See more.

This year, Paul Schrader already knows he is a winner at the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival. Not that he is clairvoyant and has foreseen the jury’s decision about his latest directorial effort (Master Gardener is actually premiering out of competition), but rather, he has just received the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award from the world’s oldest film festival.

There was certainly one performance that created major awards buzz on the weekend, and it was Brendan Fraser's in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale. The film premiered to a long standing ovation, unlike Paul Schrader's Master Gardener which got a mixed reception despite stellar acting by Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton and newcomer Quintessa Swindell.

Lars von Trier is one of the most celebrated filmmakers of Denmark, best known for his provocative stylistic cinematic experiments, and headlong dives into controversial subject matter. In his home country, Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, and Dogville director has received seven Bodil Awards (given by Danish critics) and 15 Robert Awards (the top Danish industry prize).

Renowned American documentarian Frederick Wiseman has a long and rich relationship with the Venice Film Festival. Over the course of his career he has had numerous movies debut at the Venice Biennale, and in 2014 he was the recipient of the festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

On September 1st, the Venice Film Festival welcomed a new Todd Field film into the world. Field is often referred to as ‘an actor’s director,’ and after a fifteen-year hiatus, the cinema world was eager to see Tár, which he specifically wrote for Cate Blanchett, one of the most talented actresses working today.

Italian director Luca Guadagnino is becoming a Venice Film Festival darling, returning to the festival after Suspiria (2018), with a film that festival director Alberto Barbera is calling his best so far, Bones and All with Timothée Chalamet. It is driving the young fans crazy and attracting the biggest crowds so far.

The prospect of seeing Golden Globe winner Timothée Chalamet in Bones and All prompted reporters to cram into the Sala Darsena at the Venice Film Festival at 8:30 on an unseasonably chilly Italian morning. The horror-love story of two lost souls – Timothée as Lee and Taylor Russell (Waves) as Maren – driven by their inner urges to consume human flesh is directed by Luca Guadagnino and co-stars Mark Rylance and an almost unrecognizable, Chloë Sevigny.

The bellinis were flowing on the Lido as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hosted its annual Biennale reception for filmmakers, dignitaries, and other special guests at the 79th Venice Film Festival. Held poolside at the historic Excelsior Hotel, the gathering has become a tradition by the HFPA to not only pay tribute to the creative talent attending but to announce the new recipients of the Association’s co-sponsorship of the Venice Film Residency Program.

We celebrated the residents’ program with four new filmmakers on the terrace of the Excelsior Hotel and the stars turned up, too: Patricia Clarkson, Trace Lysette, director Romain Gavras and even Shia LaBeouf all stopped by, enjoyed some Bellini’s and talked about their projects. Even festival director Alberto Barbera welcomed us back and congratulated the residents.