Title: Venice Film Festival 2025: A Global Stage for Political and Human Stories
The 82nd Venice Film Festival has once again cemented its status as a premier platform for cinematic excellence, showcasing a powerful blend of stirring dramas, bold documentaries, and innovative narratives from around the globe. This year’s selection has not only captivated audiences and critics but has also ignited profound artistic and political discourse, highlighting cinema’s unique power to explore the human condition.
Here are nine standout films that defined this year’s festival.
1. A Child’s Call from Gaza: A Harrowing Account
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania delivers a profoundly moving experience with her latest work. The film recounts the true, heartbreaking story of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was caught in crossfire in Gaza in 2024. By masterfully blending the child’s real audio recordings with reconstructions at the Palestinian Red Crescent call center, the film creates an immersive and unflinching narrative. Its documentary-style conclusion, featuring an appearance by Hind’s mother alongside real footage, left the Venice audience deeply shaken and moved, offering a poignant look at human resilience.
2. Parasite Director Returns with “No Other Choice”
Celebrated Korean auteur Park Chan-wook realized a two-decade-long dream project with the black comedy “No Other Choice.” The film follows a man who, in a desperate bid to maintain his middle-class life, resorts to eliminating his business rivals. Fueled by electrifying performances from Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin and its energetic pacing, the film is already generating significant Oscar buzz and is a strong contender for the festival’s top prize.
3. Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”
Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro brought his highly anticipated reinterpretation of Mary Shelley’s classic to Venice. This Netflix production stands as one of its most lavish, with a compelling performance by Jacob Elordi as the Creature. Alongside Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth, del Toro crafts a richly detailed and deeply emotional adaptation that reimagines the timeless tale for a new generation.
4. “Dead Man’s Wire”: A Tense Hostage Drama
Gus Van Sant presents a unique comedy-tragedy inspired by a true 1970s event in Indianapolis. The film, featuring a powerhouse cast including Bill Skarsgård, Al Pacino, and Colman Domingo, transforms a tense hostage situation into an unpredictable and thrilling cinematic experience that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.
5. Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Bugonia”
The acclaimed Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos returns with his signature surreal style in “Bugonia,” a satirical and grotesque examination of themes surrounding capitalism and environmental destruction. The bold performances by Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone anchor this bizarre and captivating narrative, making it one of the festival’s most talked-about entries.
6. “Kabul, Between Prayers”: A Documentary Portrait
In a courageous documentary, Abuzar Amini turns his lens on Kabul to portray the life of a Taliban soldier and his teenage brother. Avoiding absolute vilification, the film instead presents a humanizing look at its subjects and their contradictions, resulting in a startling and memorable portrait of a complex reality.
7. Sofia Coppola’s “Marc by Sofia”
Sofia Coppola makes her documentary debut with an unconventional and energetic portrait of famed fashion designer Marc Jacobs. The film is a visual feast, packed with fascinating archival footage and nostalgic narratives that trace the evolving landscape of the fashion world over recent decades.
8. “The Testament of Ann Lee”: A Historical Musical
Mona Fastvold’s bold and passionate musical, “The Testament of Ann Lee,” tells the historical story of the leader of the Shakers movement. With a captivating performance by Amanda Seyfried and a score by Daniel Blumberg, the film’s first half soars with energy, though it is noted to lose some of its intensity in the latter part.
9. “Cover-Up”: A Portrait of Investigative Journalism
Laura Poitras and Marc Ubenhaus co-direct this comprehensive documentary portrait of Seymour Hersh, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American investigative journalist. The film chronicles his career from breaking the My Lai massacre story to reporting on the Abu Ghraib prison abuses, cementing his legacy as a fiercely independent and courageous voice in journalism.
This diverse and powerful lineup demonstrates the Venice Film Festival’s unwavering commitment to presenting films that are not only artistically masterful but also engage with the most pressing stories of our time.
