Venice Days, the independent sidebar of the Venice International Film Festival, has unveiled the lineup for its 23rd edition, the first since the death in March of section founder and longtime head Giorgio Gosetti. This year’s Venice Days, running Sept. 2-12 alongside the 83rd Venice Festival, is dedicated to his memory.
The sidebar, and its accompanying Italian cinema section Venice Nights, includes 25 world premieres, more than half of which (14) are directed by women.
My Notes on Mars from Hungarian director Lili Horvát (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time) will open Venice Days, screening in competition. Horvát’s English-language debut stars Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend in the story of a young scientist who mysteriously disappears only to show up weeks later at her own memorial service with no memory of what happened.
Kuba Dorabialski’s Agata the Writer, starring Mia Wasikowska as an Australian author in Sarajevo, will also premiere in competition, alongside Pauline Julier and Nicolas Chapoulier’s period drama The Indies; Boris Hadžija and Hoda Taheri’s hybrid fiction-documentary I Plant My Hand in the Garden; and Nicola Sorcinelli’s debut Balcanica, the only Italian title in competition, about an Afghan father and son who, after music is banned in their country, try to flee to Europe.
Other highlights include María Aparicio’s Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt, a drama centered on two Argentines in Madrid; Mykyta Gibalenko’s debut Camouflage, about a young Ukrainian in Germany whose separation from home is transformed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; a Damilola Orimogunje’s family melodrama Dear Ajayi, which will be the first Nigerian movie to screen in Venice Days competition.
Léa Domenach’s Man’s Skin, a queer feminist musical comedy set in the Italian Renaissance and featuring Catherine Deneuve, will close Venice Days, screening out of competition.
An all-woman jury, headed by Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón (Alcarràs, Summer 1993) with Italian director Sara Fgaier (Weightless), and Hania Mroué, director of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema, will pick the winner of the GdA Director’s Award, which carries a €20,000 ($23,000) cash prize to be split between the director and the film’s international distributor. The Lido audience will vote for the Audience Award, while the Europa Cinemas jury will choose the Europa Cinemas Label from the European films in the lineup.
Roberta Torre’s Scarpe rotte will open Venetian Nights, the sidebar’s Italian cinema program. The film, starring Barbara Ronchi, is freely inspired by the life of Natalia Ginzburg and is set in wartime Rome.
Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a short film anthology series created by fashion brand Miu Miu, returns to Venice Days with Discipline, a new short from Mona Fastvold (The Testament of Ann Lee) and Avec Kim, from French auteur Claire Denis (Beau Travail), the latter starring Suzanne Lindon and Kim Gordon.
The 2026 Venice Days will also include talks, industry events and public programs at the Casa degli Autori and Sala Laguna. Among them are the return of #confronti, the fourth edition of the Declaration of Filmmakers, a soundtracks event organized with ACMF, the second edition of Africa Chiama, and a new collaboration with Venezia CULT that will bring cartoonists Leo Ortolani and Dave McKean to the Lido.
The Venice Film Festival will announce its competition lineup on Thursday, July 23.
The full 2026 Venice Days lineup:
IN COMPETITION
Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt, dir: María Aparicio (Argentina, Spain)
Agata the Writer, dir: Kuba Dorabialski (Australia)
Balcanica, dir: Nicola Sorcinelli (Italy, Serbia, Croatia)
Camouflage, dir: Mykyta Gibalenko (Germany)
Dear Ajayi, dir: Damilola Orimogunje (Nigeria, Germany)
I Plant My Hand in the Garden, dirs.: Boris Hadžija, Hoda Taheri (Germany, Serbia, USA)
The Indies, dirs.: Pauline Julier, Nicolas Chapoulier (Switzerland, Spain)
My Notes on Mars, dir: Lili Horvát (Hungary, Austria)
Salón de Belleza, dir: Nathalia Acevedo (Mexico, France)
A Woman Today, dir: Robert Guédiguian (France, Italy)
OUT OF COMPETITION
Man’s Skin, dir: Léa Domenach (France) Closing Film
SPECIAL EVENTS
Al Baraneya, dir: Ashgan El-Hamus (Netherlands, Egypt, Belgium, Saudi Arabia)
Carla Lonzi, A Feminist Story, dir: Francesca Archibugi (Italy)
The Phantom, dirs.: Ignacio Masllorens, David Lamelas (Argentina)
The Massacre, dir: Cosimo Messeri (Italy)
Even If Hell Came, dir: Samuele Rossi (Italy)
VENICE NIGHTS
Anatomia di un ritratto, dirs.: Francesco Clerici, Mattia Colombo (Italy, Switzerland)
Auber 89, dir: Giuseppe Schillaci (France, Italy)
Domenica capitale – Genere domenicale, dir: Giovanna Giuliani (Italy)
La leggenda del deserto, dir: Elisabetta Giannini (Italy)
Memoria del lampo, dir: Riccardo Giacconi (Italy)
Il mestiere, dir: Beppe Tufarulo (Italy, Belgium, France)
Scarpe rotte, dir: Roberta Torre (Italy) Opening Film
Si sveglia e sbadiglia, il gatto; poi l’amore, dirs.: Federico Francioni, Samuele Sestieri (Italy)
Uno si distrae al bivio, dir: Alessandra Lancellotti (Italy)
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