The Disciple, Meel Patthar, Anita represent India at the 77th Venice film festival

The 77th edition of the Venice Festival has announced its line-up of films. The selection includes three Indian films — Chaitanya Tamhane’s sophomore film The Disciple in the Competition section, Ivan Ayr’s Meel Patthar (Milestone) in the Orizzonti section, and Sushma Khadepaun’s short film Anita in the short film competition.

Daniele Luchetti’s Lacci has been announced as the opening film at the festival.

The Competition section features Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s Sun Children, Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai’s Laila In Haifa, Chinese director Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland and Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades, amongst others.

Addressing the lack of films by women directors in previous editions, this year features eight films helmed by women in Competition. These films will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion, which was won last year by Todd Phillips’ divisive film Joker (2019).

Australian actress Cate Blanchett will preside over this year’s Competition jury. She served as jury president at the 71st Cannes Festival in 2018.

The festival will be held from 2–12 September on the Lido in Venice and will be the first major film festival to be held in physical form after the COVID-19 pandemic struck earlier this year. Many major festivals like Cannes, SXSW, and Tribeca were cancelled in the wake of the pandemic while others have moved online.

Venice had earlier announced a trimmed selection of films as well as strict adherence to safety protocols, but it remains to be seen how many people actually attend the world’s oldest film festival this year.