Venice Film Festival program: Oasis, Elon Musk, and a spotlight on male directors

The 83rd Venice Film Festival unveiled its program, highlighting a strong presence of established male filmmakers and notable documentaries. Festival director Alberto Barbera announced that the Britpop band Oasis will be featured in the documentary "Don't Look Back In Anger," which chronicles their recent reunion tour and is set for a September theatrical release.

Danny Boyle, director of "Trainspotting," will open the festival with his film "Ink." The movie explores the ascent of the tabloid newspaper The Sun, with Guy Pearce portraying the controversial media mogul Rupert Murdoch. In the main competition, "Wild Horse Nine" by Martin McDonagh, known for "The Banshees of Inisherin," will screen. The film stars Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich as CIA agents on Easter Island.

The festival boasts a lineup rich with acclaimed names, including new films from Werner Herzog, Lee Chang-dong, Nanni Moretti, Florian Zeller, and Shinya Tsukamoto. A documentary by Wim Wenders about Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and a concert film by Russell Crowe about his own band are also scheduled.

However, the lineup has drawn attention for its gender disparity in the main competition. Danish director May El-Toukhy will present her psychodrama "Woman Unknown," making her the sole female director competing for the Golden Lion this year.

Beyond the competition, the festival will showcase "Musk," a documentary by Alex Gibney examining the life of tech billionaire Elon Musk. Additionally, a new film extract from Ilya Khrzhanovsky's "Dau" project will feature Teodor Currentzis as physicist Lev Landau. Austria is represented in the Orizzonti sidebar with "Eklipse," the feature debut of Tyrolean filmmaker Manuel Wetscher.