Venice Film Festival Positions Itself To Premier Oscar Hopefuls

With the Cannes Film Festival officially closed, the next big festival on any cinephile’s calendar is the Venice Film Festival.

If there is one thing that the Cannes Film Festival saw as a critique, it was the lack of this year’s biggest films. Ranging from Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life, to Sofia Coppola’s upcoming film, Somewhere, the year’s most prestigious festival was without many of the year’s most prestigious films.

However, that may not be the case for Venice.

Screen Daily came up with a dream list of films which while not being able to make Cannes, could very well premiere at Venice (via The Playlist). The Tree of Life is on that list, as is Somewhere, as both are nearly 100% complete. Tree was reportedly going to show at Cannes, but was pulled last minute, as Malick said the film was only ‘97% complete,’ and Somewhere is expecting a release in late December, making this a definite possibility.

Other films that have been talked about as possibilities include Eastwood’s Hereafter, Aronofsky’s Black Swan, The Tempest from Julie Taymour, and even John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole. Machete, The American, The Rum Diary, and films from Julian Schanbel, Takashi Miike, Susanne Bier and Bela Tarr have also been rumored.

Personally, if this lineup actually falls through, you are talking about one of the most superb line ups of films in a long time. Rabbit Hole may be the most intriguing, as it is not only the follow up to the horribly underrated Shortbus for John Cameron Mitchell, but it’s easily one of this year’s Oscar dark horses. Black Swan is a brilliant screenplay in the hands of a fantastic filmmaker, and is wrapped making this a possibility, and the possibility of seeing Machete make its debut at Venice has me more than a little excited.

What films would you like to see make their debut at Venice this year?

The Venice Film Festival takes place this September 1-11, 2010.

Source: Screen Daily / The Playlist