Some controversial directors are headed to Venice with their latest films.
The prestigious Venice Film Festival announced its 2023 lineup on Tuesday, revealing that new movies from Woody Allen and Roman Polanski will be playing out of competition. Allen will premiere the French-language thriller "Coup de chance," while Polanski has the black comedy "The Palace," which stars John Cleese.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Polanski premiered his previous film, "An Officer and a Spy," at 2019's Venice Film Festival. The festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera, defended this at the time, arguing that "we have to distinguish necessarily between the artist and the man" and that Polanski is "one of the last masters still active in European cinema." Allen debuted his previous film, "Rifkin's Festival," at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2020.
A new film from Luc Besson called "Dogman" will also be playing in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Besson has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women, including Sand Van Roy, who alleged the director raped her. He was cleared of all charges in that case.
Other titles announced for Venice include Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein biopic "Maestro," Sofia Coppola's Priscilla Presley film "Priscilla," David Fincher's thriller "The Killer," and Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things." It was considered a strong lineup, though some A-list stars may not be able to attend and promote their films due to the Hollywood actors strike, which led "Challengers," the sports dramedy starring Zendaya, to pull out at the last minute and delay its release to 2024.
The 2023 Venice Film Festival is set to begin on Aug. 30.
-
Aug. 11 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday’s political cartoons include solar power shunned by Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin's appetite for Ukraine, and another distraction from the Epstein files
-
Celebrating Cézanne in Aix-en-ProvenceThe Week Recommends The beautiful city is paying tribute to its most famous son with a series of cultural events
-
Sudoku medium: August 11, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
