Venice Film Festival 2025: Sorrentino to Open with ’Grace,’ Herzog & Novak to Receive Lifetime Honors
Venice, Italy – The 81st Venice International Film festival, set to run August 27 – September 6, 2025, has unveiled its initial lineup, promising a stellar year for cinema. Italian director Paolo Sorrentino will officially open the festival with Grace, a new love story starring Toni Servillo and Anna Ferzetti, marking a return for both to the Lido after Sorrentino’s 2021 Silver Lion win for The Hand of God.
The festival’s proclamation signals a continuation of Venice’s role as a key launchpad for major international films and a prestigious platform for established and emerging filmmakers. This year’s event will honor two cinematic legends with Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement: German director Werner Herzog, renowned for his work in both fiction – including the epic Fitzcarraldo – and documentary filmmaking like Grizzly Man; and American actress Kim novak, celebrated for her iconic performances in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Billy Wilder’s Kiss Me, Stupid.Novak will also be a guest of honor at the Deauville 2025 Festival.
A Jury of International Acclaim
Leading the Orizzonti jury, which focuses on innovative and auteur-driven cinema, will be French director Julia Ducournau, known for her boundary-pushing horror films Raw and Titane. The festival has also announced several members of the main jury,including directors Cristian Mungiu and Mohammad Rasoulof,alongside actresses Fernanda Torres and Zhao Tao.
Highly Anticipated premieres
The 2025 festival is already generating significant buzz with a slate of highly anticipated premieres. Guillermo del Toro will present his adaptation of Frankenstein, featuring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi. Yorgos Lanthimos returns with Bugonia, starring Emma Stone, while Luca Guadagnino will showcase After the Hunt with Julia Roberts. Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly will star George Clooney,and Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother will feature Cate Blanchett.
French cinema will also be well-represented. François Ozon will debut his adaptation of Albert Camus’ The Stranger. Valérie Dongings’ Workforce, starring Bastien Bouillon and Virginie Ledoyen, and Olivier Assayas’s latest feature, Laugh stomach you kremlin, are also set to premiere.Closing Night & Out-of-Competition Highlights
Jacques Audiard’s series adaptation of A Prophet, soon to air on Canal+, will screen out of competition. Cédric Jimenez’s Dog51, starring Adèle Exarchopoulos and Gilles Lelouch, will bring the festival to a close.
The Venice Film Festival, founded in 1932 by Benito Mussolini, holds the distinction of being the oldest film festival in the world. Originally conceived as a showcase for Italian cinema, it quickly evolved into a globally recognized event, rivaling Cannes and Berlin as one of the “Big Three” film festivals. The festival’s prestigious Golden Lion award is considered one of the highest honors in the film industry, frequently enough serving as a significant boost to a film’s critical and commercial success. The Lido, the narrow island in the Venetian Lagoon where the festival is held, becomes a focal point for the international film community each year, attracting filmmakers, actors, critics, and cinephiles from around the globe.
