Venice Film Festival 2026: Stars, Documentaries, and Awards Buzz

The Venice Film Festival returns to the Lido on Wednesday, kicking off the fall film festival season with a blend of Hollywood star power and politically charged cinema. The 83rd edition will see red carpets graced by the likes of Noel and Liam Gallagher, Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, George Clooney, and Penélope Cruz, alongside a lineup that includes potential Oscar contenders.

This year, however, the spotlight may shift to a figure not expected to attend: Elon Musk. Alex Gibney's nearly four-hour documentary, in the works for almost four years, examines the world's richest man. Gibney, initially an admirer and Tesla owner, sought to interview Musk but was refused. The resulting film, he says, upends the myth of Musk as a modern Leonardo da Vinci, portraying him instead as a "confidence man." The documentary features interviews with hundreds of sources, many of whom were hesitant to speak on camera, a reaction Gibney found telling.

Also in the documentary lineup is Julia Loktev's "My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile," a nearly six-hour portrait of independent Russian journalists who fled after the invasion of Ukraine. The conflict in Gaza is addressed in "NAZA," a late addition to the competition from the team behind the Oscar-winning "No Other Land." While no large-scale protests are planned, the group Venice4Palestine has called for the festival to sever ties with Israeli-linked entities.

The festival also serves as a launchpad for awards season. Notable entries include Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine," Florian Zeller's "Bunker" with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, and Danny Boyle's "Ink." Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime," starring Pattinson, is generating buzz for its look at early-2000s reality TV culture. Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda presents "Look Back," and Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong offers "Possible Love."

Despite the Hollywood presence, the festival feels more subdued than in past years, with fewer blockbuster premieres. A persistent issue remains the underrepresentation of women directors in the main competition, with only one—Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhy—included this year. This echoes a 2018 pledge to improve gender parity, which remains unfulfilled. Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose debut film won the festival's screenplay prize in 2021, presides over a jury that includes Kaouther Ben Hania, a previous Silver Lion winner.

Outside the main competition, the Venice Open section features a short by Gyllenhaal and a documentary on ICE by Laura Poitras. Venice Days, an independent sidebar, opens with Lili Horvát's English-language debut, "My Notes on Mars," starring Rupert Friend and Mackenzie Davis. Horvát describes the film as a story that "argues for great love" while exploring the limits of knowing one's partner. More than half of the Venice Days selections are by women, a point of pride for Horvát, who called it "good to be in a progressive section."