Robert Redford, Spike Lee and Brian De Palma are among the big name Hollywood directors who will be booking a ticket to Venice this year.
The line-up for the 69th Venice Film Festival was unveiled Thursday with a list of heavyweight European auteurs like Denmark's Susanne Bier and her comedy, "Love Is All You Need," in addition to the American talent.
Notably, the festival boasts the world premiere for Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder," a romantic drama from the famously secretive director that stars Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz.
The opening night slot goes to Mira Nair's political thriller "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," which stars Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland. Nair was the first woman to win the festival's Golden Lion prize in 2001 for "Monsoon Wedding."
Other films of note that will be hitting Venice both in and out of competition are Lee's Michael Jackson documentary "Bad 25," De Palma's erotic thriller "Passion," Redford's Weather Underground-inspired drama "The Company You Keep," and Jonathan Demme's documentary "Enzo Avitabile Music Life."
Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" had been expected to make an appearance at one or two of the three major fall festivals — Venice, Telluride or Toronto — but it is not part of the lineup at Venice or Toronto. (Telluride does not announce its films in advance.) The film deals with a Scientology-like religion and is expected to be among this fall's top prestige pictures.
This competition will be the first overseen by Alberto Barbera, who took over as artistic director after Marco Mueller’s exit last year. The festival runs from August 29 through September 8, 2012.
The festival previously announced an extensive lineup of restored classic films, including Orson Welles' little-seen "Chimes at Midnight," Billy Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." and Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate."
VENEZIA 69 (International Competition)
"Après Mai" ("Something in the Air"), Olivier Assayas
"At Any Price," Ramin Bahrani
"Bella Addormentata," Marco Bellocchio
"La cinquième saison," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth
"Lemale Et Ha’Chalal" ("Fill the Void"), Rama Burshtein
"È stato il figlio," Daniele Cipri
"Un Giorno Speciale," Francesca Comencini
"Passion," Brian De Palma
"Superstar," Xavier Giannoli
"Pieta," Ki-Duk Kim
"Outrage Beyond," Takeshi Kitano
"Spring Breakers," Harmony Korine
"To The Wonder," Terrence Malick
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza
"Linhas De Wellington," Valeria Sarmiento
"Paradise: Faith," Ulrich Seidl
"Betrayal," Kirill Serebrennikov
OUT OF COMPETITION
"L’Homme Qui Rit," Jean-Pierre Ameris
"Anton’s Right Here," Lyubov Arkus
"Love Is All You Need," Susanne Bier
"Cherchez Hortense," Pascal Bonitzer
"It Was Better Tomorrow," Hinde Boujemaa
"Sur Un Fil…," Simon Brook
"Clarisse," Liliana Cavani
"Enzo Avitable Music Life," Jonathan Demme
"Tai Chi 0," Stephen Fung
"Sfiorando Il Muro," Silvia Giralucci and Luca Ricciardi
"Carmel,"Amos Gitai
"Lullaby To My Father," Amos Gitai
"El Imenetrable," Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini
"Penance," Kiyoshi Kurosawa
"Bad 25," Spike Lee
"Witness: Libya," Abdallah Omeish and David Frankham
"Medici Con L’Africa," Carlo Mazzacurati
"The Reluctant Fundamentalist," Mira Nair
"O Gebo E A Sombra," Manoel De Oliveria
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford
"Shark (Bait 3D)," Kimble Rendall
"Disconnect," Henry-Alex Rubin
"La Nave Dolce," Daniele Vicari
"The Iceman," Ariel Vromen
ORIZZONTI (New trends in world cinema; selection also includes a number of short films)
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour
"Khaneh Pedari" ("The Paternal House"), Kianoosh Ayari
"Ja Tozhe Mochu" ("I Also Want It"), Alexey Balabanov
"Gli Equilibristi," Ivano De Matteo
"L'Intervallo," Leonardo Di Costanzo
"El Sheita Elli Fat" (Winter of Discontent"), Ibrahim El Batout
"Tango Libre," Frederic Fonteyne
"Menatek Ha-Maim" ("The Cutoff Man"), Idan Hubel
"Gaosu Tamen, Wo Cheng Baihe Qu Le" ("Fly With the Crane"), Ruijun Li
"Kapringen" ("A Hijacking"), Tobias Lindholm
"Leones," Jazmin Lopez
"Bellas Mariposas," Salvatore Mereu
"Low Tide," Roberto Minervini
"Boxing Day," Bernard Rose
"Yema," Djamila Sahraoui
"Araf" ("Araf, Somewhere in Between"), Yesim Ustaoglu
"Sennen No Yuraku" ("The Millennial Rapture"), Koji Makamatsu
"Zan Zi Mei" ("Three Sisters"), Bing Wang
80! (Retrospective collection)
"Il Brigante" ("The Brigand"), Renato Castellani
"Pytel Blech" ("A Bagful of Fleas"), Vera Chytilova
"Genghis Khan," Manuel Conde and Salvador Lou
"Pagine Chiuse," Gianni Da Campo
"Dieu a Besoin des Hommes" ("God Needs Men"), Jean Delannoy
"Poslednjaja Noc'" ("The Last Night"), Julij Jakovlevic Rajzman
"Ahora Te Vamos a Llamar Hermano," Raoul Ruiz
"Stress-es Tres-Tres," Carlos Saura
"Free at Last," Gregory Shuker, James Desmond and Nicholas Proferes
"Zablacene Mesto" ("Mud-Covered City"), Vaclav Taborsky
VENICE CLASSICS (restored classic films and documentaries about cinema)
"Camicie Rosse," Goffredo Alessandrini and Francesco Rosi
"American Dreams," James Benning
"Fanny & Alexander," Ingmar Bergman
"Himala," Ishmael Bernal
"Tell Me Lies," Peter Brook
"Monicelli, La Version di Mario," M. Canale, F. Farina, M. Gianni, W. Labate and A. Morri
"Heaven's Gate," Michael Cimino
"Gli Anni Delle Imagini Perdute," Adolfo Conti
"Conteurs D'Images," Noelle Deschamps
"South Seas Adventure," Carl Dudley, R. Goldstone, F. Lyon, W. Thompson and B. Wrangell
"Dia Nostri Inviati Alla Mostra Di Venezia," Giuseppe Giannotti, Enrico Salvatori and Davide Savelli
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Howard Hawks
"Harry Dean Stanton Partly Fiction," Sophie Huber
"Karumen Kokyo Ni Kaeru," Kinoshita Keisuke
"Miradas Multiples," Emilio Maille
"The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," Joseph L. Mankiewicz
"Porcile," Pier Paolo Pasolini
"Terra Animata," Luca Maria Patella
"SKMP2," Luca Maria Patella
"La Guerra Dei Vulcani," Francesco Patierno
"La Decima Vittima," Elio Petri
"Indagine Su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto," Elio Petri
"Il Caso Mattei," Francesco Rosi
"Stomboli, Terra di Dio," Roberto Rossellini
"Valentino's Ghost," Michael Singh
"Seida Elettrica. Il Making of Di Io e Te," Monica Strambini
"Avoir 20 Ans Dans les Aures," Rene Vautier
"Chimes at Midnight," Orson Welles
"Sunset Blvd," Billy Wilder
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the director of "Witness: Libya," as Michael Mann. Abdallah Omeish and David Frankham are the directors.
