Jack O'Connell is set to open the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2026, as organizers unveil this year's competition and sidebar selections on July 23. Danny Boyle's Ink , starring O'Connell alongside Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, will dramatize Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid empire. Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera and Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco are presenting the lineup from the La Biennale Library in Venice, with the announcement streamed across the festival's official website and social platforms. The festival closes September 12 with Dio Ride , an Italian period drama directed by Giovanni Veronesi and starring Pierfrancesco Favino. Venice Is Bringing the Politics, Too The festival's Venice Spotlight section is already signaling a pointed year, with Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan's Conversation With the Sea and Gael Garcia Bernal 's Hombre Al Agua among the announced titles. Other selections include Gabor Reisz's Ground Floor , which Alberto Barbera characterized as a metaphor for Viktor Orban's government, and I Matter from Alina Serban, identified as the first film by a Roma director to screen in the section. The political tension extends beyond the films: Pietrangelo Buttafuoco criticized the European Commission after it withdrew a €2 million grant, reported as roughly $2.8 million, from the Biennale foundation. The funding decision followed the Venice art Biennale's choice to allow Russia back into the event for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to the festival's press conference remarks. Maggie Gyllenhaal will preside over the competition jury and award the Golden Lion for best film, while George Clooney will receive an honorary Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. With Ink opening the festival and a politically charged Spotlight slate already taking shape, Venice 2026 is positioning itself as both an awards season launchpad and a cultural pressure point.