21 films chasing top prize at Venice Film Festival

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The Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival set to begin September 1, will be awarded to one film among 21 contenders from across the globe. Here are the films in the running: Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Madres paralelas’ (Parallel Mothers) — Spain: Two single women prepare to give birth in a maternity ward in Pedro Almodovar’s latest film with regulars Penelope Cruz and Rossy De Palma. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon’ — US: Ana Lily Amirpour’s fantasy film starring Kate Hudson, Craig Robinson and Jeon Jong-seo follows a girl with super powers who escapes a mental asylum and rejoins the world in New Orleans. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Un Autre Monde’ (Another World) — France: The last of Stephane Brize’s trilogy about the world of work, it stars Vincent Lindon as a boss forced to make tough decisions. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘The Power of the Dog’ — New Zealand/Australia: Two brothers feud on a Montana ranch after one comes home with a new wife, in Jane Campion’s film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘America Latina’ — Italy/France: Italian twins Fabio and Damiano D’Innocenzo wrote and directed this love story thriller starring Elio Germano. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘L’evenement’ (Happening) — France: A young woman risks prison as she seeks an abortion in 1960s France in Audrey Diwan’s drama. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Competencia Oficial’ (Official Competition) — Spain/Argentina: Penelope Cruz stars as a filmmaker dealing with two difficult leading men, including Antonio Banderas, in the comedy directed by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Il Buco’ (The Hole) — Italy/France/Germany: Michelangelo Frammartino’s film is based on the true story of a group of speleologists who in 1961 discovered a deep cave in a remote area of Italy’s south. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Sundown’: Mexico/France/Sweden: Tim Roth stars as a wealthy man seeking to walk away from his life while on vacation in Mexican director Michel Franco’s latest. Image Credit: Venice FIlm Festival

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‘Illusions perdues’ (Lost Illusions) — France: Xavier Giannoli’s film adaptation of the Balzac novel stars Benjamin Voisin, Xavier Dolan and Gerard Depardieu. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘The Lost Daughter’ — Greece/US/UK/Israel: US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut is based on an Elena Ferrante novel and stars Olivia Colman as a woman obsessed with another mother and daughter. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Spencer’ — Germany/UK: Chilean director Pablo Larrain follows the last years of marriage between Princess Diana and Prince Charles and stars Kristen Stewart and Jack Farthing. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Freaks Out’ — Italy/Belgium: A circus troupe in Rome becomes increasingly desperate with the onset of the Second World War in Gabriele Mainetti’s film. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Qui rido io’ (The King of Laughter) — Italy/Spain: Toni Servillo stars as Naples’ famous turn-of-the-century comedian Eduardo Scarpetta in Mario Martone’s biopic. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘On the Job: The Missing 8’ — Philippines: Erik Matti’s action film with prisoners-turned-hitmen that explores corruption in the media is a sequel to 2013’s ‘On the Job’. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Zeby nie Bylo Sladow’ (Leave No Traces) — Poland/France/Czechoslavakia: The true story of a witness to the fatal beating of a young activist in Warsaw by the militia under the Communist regime by Polish director Jan P. Matuszynski. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Kapitan Volkonogov Bezhal’ (Captain Volkonogov Escaped) — Russia/Estonia/France: Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov’s thriller follows a state interrogator in the former Soviet Union who flees, hoping to repent. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘The Card Counter’ — US/UK/China: A gambler is haunted by his past as a serviceman in Paul Schrader’s revenge thriller starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish and Willem Dafoe. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘E’ stata la mano di Dio’ (The Hand of God) — Italy: Paolo Sorrentino’s drama is set in Naples during the heady years when football legend Diego Maradona delivered big dreams to the gritty Southern city. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘Vidblysk’ (Reflection) — Ukraine: A Ukrainian surgeon seeks to rebuild his life after witnessing horrifying violence as a Russian prisoner in Valentyn Vasyanovych’s drama. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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‘La Caja’ (The Box) — Mexico/US: A Mexico City teen heads north to collect his father’s remains but is drawn into the grim world of apparel assembly plants in Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas’ film. Image Credit: Venice Film Festival

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21 films chasing top prize at Venice Film Festival

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