Venice Film Festival 2016 announces lineup

The films in contention at the 73rd edition of the Venice Film Festival were announced on Thursday in Rome, with a group of English-language features on the docket.

US actress Natalie Portman stars in two films featured at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.
© AFP PHOTO / DOMINIQUE FAGET

Opening the festival is Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” starring Ryan Gosling and Emma stone in a nod to the Golden Age of American musicals.

In Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge,” Andrew Garfield stars as World War II army doctor Desmond T. Doss, who became the US’s first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

In Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie,” actress Natalie Portman takes on the role of Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis, before she returns to the screen in Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Planetarium” about two sisters’ ability to communicate with ghosts.

The Venice Film Festival runs from August 31 to September 10. For a full film listing, visit www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/73rd-festival/line-up/off-sel/venezia73/.