finally, the much-awaited 79^th Venice Film Festival is happening. July 26 will witness the formal unveiling of the 2022 edition of the much-coveted festival. Now this year, the Cannes Film festival has already set the bar high after bringing forth a blend of flashy Hollywood blockbusters. There was the social satire 'Triangle of Sadness' by Ruben Östlund, 'Crimes of the Future, the sci-fi dystopia film the house of David Cronenberg, and a masterpiece like 'Decision to Leave', by Park Chan-Wook, to name a few. So if Venice has to retain its legacy of being the go-to festival that paves a pathway for awards galore, there will be competition with Cannes. From auteur titles to the glitz and glamour of the red carpet, the Festival with its lineup of films like these should be a promising one.

The Eternal Daughter

Joanna Hogg is yet to showcase one of her films to Venice (and the audience is awaiting the same after her last work, 'The Souvenir Part 2' received rave reviews at Cannes, 2021). This time, she reunited with Tilda Swinton and A24, the ghost tale, which was shot for the most part during the lockdown, and then came this work of art.

Packing in more punch is the producers, including Martin Scorsese and Element Pictures, the Irish banner. The story of a middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother, who must unearth a few secrets in their former family home, forms the crux of the story. The star cast includes Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies, and Alfie Sankey-Green, to name a few.

Rheingold

The world stays indebted to auteur Fatih Akin, of German-Turkish descent, who got two amazing features to Venice till now. One was 'Soul Kitchen' (2009) and then came the period drama, 'The Cut' (2014).

This time, a much-talked-about biopic of a German ex-convict who transforms into a hip-hop entrepreneur Giwar Hajabi is the third in line, with 'Rheingold'. Released in Germany by Warner Bros, and sold globally by The Match Factory, from MUBI - this is likely to become another hot favorite.

White Noise

Based on the breakout novel of 1985 by Don DeLillo, Noah Baumbach's current film isn't based on his ideas and creative streak. This came almost 3 years, from the time 'Marriage Story' made heads turn during the 2020 awards season (which eventually won one of the six Oscar nominations).

The film, which follows the life of a professor and how he survived after a cataclysmic train accident in the mid-west, is a story to watch out for. The ensemble cast of this Venice-worthy film includes stars like Andre Benjamin, Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver, Jodie Turner-Smith, Alessandro Nivola, and Don Cheadle.

The Son

This is the follow-up to the amazingly made 'mind-twisting' debut 'The Father', which had already matched the 2021 Oscar for its best adapted Screenplay. Not to forget, Anthony Hopkins added another best actor award to this existing list of prestigious laurels. The film is adapted from Florian Zeller's stage play and boasts of an A-list star cast like Vanessa Kirby, Laura Dern, and Hugh Jackman.

Hopkins also makes a worthy return for the second time with the French filmmaker. Produced by See-Saw, the Brit/Australian banner that was also responsible for last year's Venice festival.  Much like its predecessor, this one where Sony Pictures Classic has its rights will also live up to the hype generated.

She Said

An investigative drama, this is the latest feature from Maria Schrader, the German multi-hyphenate. She's already making headlines after her Emmy win for 'Unorthodox' from Netflix and the sci-fi rom-com 'I'm Your Man'. Truly, it would be a befitting watch for Venice, as the audience follows the reporters Megan Twohey and Joi Kantor from New York Times. They were the pioneers to break the sexual assault that launched the #MeToo movement.

It was rumored that Cannes would bring it before the audience, but then it didn't happen. Koe Kazan as Kantor and Carey Mulligan as Twohey delivered worthy performances as the reporters who exposed the mastermind Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The film with Universal Pictures having worldwide rights includes a star cast comprising Samantha Morton, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, and Patricia Clarkson, among others.

The list is not over yet. And the closer the film festival comes, our excitement will simply increase manifold!