The 76th Venice International Film FestivalLa Biennale Cinema di Venezia— takes place at the Venice Lido from August 28th to September 7th, 2019 .

This year’s line-up includes the following sections: Venezia 76, Out of Competition, Orizzonti (Horizons), Venice Classics, Sconfini (Selected Works), Biennale College – Cinema, Venice Virtual Reality and a Special Event.

ZeroZeroZero, Gabriel’s new television series, will have its world premiere at the festival, screening the first two episodes, both directed by series creator Stefano Sollima, on September 5 and 6.

The big news is that, according to festival director Alberto Barbera, Gabriel Byrne will be in attendance!

Well, hello Venice!

Deadline reported a month ago that ZeroZeroZero would be part of the Venice line-up this year and was going to be one of the festival’s most popular premieres:

We hear the festival is set to screen the first two episodes of anticipated Euro-U.S. co-pro ZeroZeroZero starring Andrea Riseborough, Dane Dehaan, and Gabriel Byrne.

There was some uncertainty over whether the show would bow this early given that it is unlikely to air until early next year (production was held up after an injury to Riseborough), but U.S. rights holder Amazon has given the green light for a Venice debut.

The Italian-origin show is likely to be among the festival’s biggest draws. The Cattleya epic for Sky, Canal+ and Amazon is adapted from Gomorrah scribe Roberto Saviano’s book about international cocaine trafficking and its economic and political effects. It was shot in English, Spanish, Italian, French, Wolof and Arabic across Europe, U.S., Central America and Africa.

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado and Gomorrah helmer Stefano Sollima is creator and among directors on the series which will follow feuding families, Mexican cartels, the ‘Ndrangheta (the Calabrian mafia) and corrupt businessmen. The stellar lineup of directors also includes Pablo Trapero (The Clan) and Janus Metz (True Detective).

Director Stefano Sollima

Amazon has picked up the 8-part series for US distribution; there are tons of international distributors involved in this production and global access seems likely. So you can pretty confidently plan to watch this new series when it screens sometime in 2020.

In addition to the premiere of ZeroZeroZero, there is another event that is attracting Gabriel to Venice–his long-time colleague and friend Costa-Gavras is being honored:

Director Costa-Gavras to receive Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award 2019

La Biennale di Venezia and Jaeger-LeCoultre are pleased to announce that the great Greek-born French director Costa-Gavras (Z, Missing, Music Box) is the recipient of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2019 award of the 76th Venice International Film Festival (28 August – 7 September 2019), dedicated to a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.

The award ceremony for Costa-Gavras will take place on Saturday August 31st 2019 in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema) at 10 pm, before the world premiere screening Out of Competition of the new film he wrote and directed, Adults in the Room (France, Greece, 124′) with Christos Loulis, Alexandros Bourdoumis, Ulrich Tukur.

With regards to this acknowledgment, the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera has stated: “There are many reasons why Costa-Gavras deserves to be counted among today’s great directors, but there is one reason in particular. He is able to turn politics into a fascinating topic, a subject like any other, not just for the initiated and already convinced few, but as well for the greater public, using every means at cinema’s disposal in order to touch the greatest number of spectators possible. This director, reserved yet determined, has always held that all movies are political. This not only enables him to dodge the label of political director, which has always been attached to him – often in a polemical and reductive manner – but also to claim a peaceful and sincerely democratic faith in a type of mainstream cinema that makes the viewer reflect and question, and also sparks deep emotions. Thanks to the intrinsic, authentic indignation of his movies, to the deep humanism that characterizes them, and to the freedom they demand, Costa-Gavras calls into question our weaknesses and our submissiveness. It has been said that, “if we have fallen asleep, his cinema wakes us up. And if we have lost hope, his films restore it to us.”

Director Costa-Gavras

So, get ready for more as the festival opens! The complete line-up is an international delight, with films from all over the world, including shorts and several classic films as well. In addition to Gabriel’s new series, the HBO series The New Pope will also premiere, as will as Brad Pitt’s new film, Ad Astra. Noah Baumbach is bringing Marriage Story, with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. New films from Olivier Assayas, Atom Egoyan, Kore-eda Hirokazu, and many more are part of the Competition Section. The festival is sure to be a star-studded affair, as it traditionally kicks off the international film festival season. Stay tuned! heart

PS. Dane DeHaan and Gabriel have appeared together on screen before. Remember this?

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