Venice Film Festival reveals 2026 lineup with live updates
The Venice Film Festival reveals its 2026 lineup in a live-updating announcement, headlined by Danny Boyle’s Golden Lion contender Ink and closing film Dio Ride. The 83rd edition runs Sept. 2–12, with Maggie Gyllenhaal as jury president and lifetime awards for George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn.
Key Takeaways
- Venice is rolling out its 2026 lineup live, with competition titles still being added.
- Danny Boyle’s Ink opens the festival and competes for the Golden Lion; Netflix holds U.S. rights.
- Giovanni Veronesi’s Dio Ride (“God Laughs”) closes the fest out of competition.
- Maggie Gyllenhaal chairs the jury; George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn receive lifetime honors.
- Like Cannes this year, Venice is expected to have a lighter Hollywood presence—but still a strong awards slate.
What has the Venice Film Festival revealed so far?
According to Variety’s live lineup report, the Venice Film Festival reveals are arriving as an updating feed rather than one locked list.
Confirmed so far: Boyle’s Ink in Competition as the opening film, and Veronesi’s Dio Ride in the Venice Open (out-of-competition fiction) slot as the closer. Additional Competition, Horizons, non-fiction, shorts, and series sections are flagged as updating live.
Variety notes an expected lighter Hollywood footprint than in past years—mirroring Cannes—while still promising buzzy international titles and awards contenders.
Why does the Danny Boyle opener matter for streaming fans?
Ink is a 1960s-set biographical drama with Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch and Jack O’Connell as Larry Lamb, editor of Murdoch-owned U.K. tabloid The Sun. It world-premieres in Venice and is in the hunt for the Golden Lion.
Netflix recently acquired U.S. rights, which is why this fest news lands in our Streaming & TV Alerts coverage: Venice buzz often shapes fall awards chatter and platform release strategies.
Who is on the jury, and what else should viewers watch?
Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Bride, The Lost Daughter) will preside over the competition jury. Variety frames her as the third woman to hold that role in the past five years, following Isabelle Huppert, Julianne Moore, and Cate Blanchett.
She will be joined by Johnnie To, Kaouther Ben Hania, Shahrbanoo Sadat, Xavier Giannoli, Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist), and Francesco Casetti.
Closing film Dio Ride stars Pierfrancesco Favino as a 17th-century Tuscan friar whose joyful talk of God draws church hostility. Lifetime achievement awards go to George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn. The 83rd Venice Film Festival runs Sept. 2–12—bookmark the live Variety board as more titles drop.