The Venice Film Festival offers an embarrassment of auteur riches this year. The 82nd edition, which kicks off on Wednesday, has films from Guillermo del Toro, Kathryn Bigelow, Park Chan-wook, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant and Luca Guadagnino, to name a few. Even Charlie Kaufman has a short film (“How to Shoot a Ghost”).
Depending on how they play, some in the lineup will surely be part of the Oscar conversation in the new year, as several filmmakers this year can attest from experience. In 2017, del Toro launched “The Shape of Water” at Venice, where its Golden Lion win was the first of many that awards season, culminating with a best picture and best director prize at the Academy Awards. In 2023, Lanthimos also had a charmed Venice debut for “Poor Things,” another Golden Lion winner that would get Emma Stone a best actress Oscar.
