Venice Film Festival Takeaways: Malkovich Storms the Oscar Race, Political Movies Dominate Buzz and More — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- John Malkovich is drumming up Oscar buzz for 'Wild Horse Nine,' in which he plays an eccentric CIA agent; the Martin McDonagh film earned a 13-minute standing ovation, and McDonagh has previously sent two acting Oscars (Rockwell, McDormand for 'Three Billboards') and two acting nominations (Farrell, Gleeson for 'Banshees of Inisherin') to the Academy from Venice premieres.
- 'NAZA' received a record 24.5-minute standing ovation — the longest in major film festival history — surpassing last year's 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' and Guillermo del Toro's 'Pan's Labyrinth' at Cannes 2006, which both clocked 22 minutes; the Gaza documentary is co-directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the four directors behind 2025's Oscar-winning 'No Other Land.'
- George Clooney received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and used his press conference, opening-night appearance and master class to decry the 'fraying state of democracy,' coining the term 'kakistocracy' — 'a country run by the least qualified people.'
- Artistic director Alberto Barbera called the lineup 'the most political ever,' featuring films on right-wing media barons ('Ink'), right-wing trolls ('Musk'), Gaza ('NAZA'), and ICE ('They're Here'); jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal countered Berlin jury president Wim Wenders by calling movies 'fundamentally, unavoidably political.'
- Only 2 of the Golden Lion competition titles were directed by women — 'Woman Unknown' by May el-Toukhy and 'NAZA' co-directed by Szor — prompting Gyllenhaal to call it 'a systemic problem' because 'it's harder for women to get films financed.'
- Lance Oppenheim, 30, emerged as a major new talent: his A24 debut 'Primetime,' starring Robert Pattinson as 'To Catch a Predator' host Chris Hansen, drew a 7-minute ovation, and he simultaneously unveiled Elizabeth Holmes documentary 'You Can See Everything' with Nathan Fielder at Telluride.
- Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem received 15.5 minutes of applause for marriage-in-crisis drama 'Bunker,' while Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher drew strong receptions for 'Don't Look Back in Anger' amid sweltering Lido temperatures that sent stars like Parker Posey and Pattinson fanning themselves on the red carpet.
Why it matters: McDonagh has used past Venice premieres to launch two acting Oscars and two acting nominations at the Academy, giving Malkovich's 'Wild Horse Nine' buzz a credible path back to the Oscar race more than 30 years after his 1993 nomination for 'In the Line of Fire.' The 24.5-minute standing ovation for 'NAZA' — the longest in major festival history — confirms politically charged documentaries are now drawing stronger audience responses than recent festival benchmarks.
Ask SkimNews
