Venice Giornate degli Autori Launches 2026 Program Honoring Founder Giorgio Gosetti

Venice’s parallel section Giornate degli Autori (GdA) has announced a women‑centric line‑up for its 2026 edition.

After reviewing more than 1,036 submissions from 114 countries, the festival will feature 25 worldwide premieres—including 13 Italian titles and 14 directed by women—alongside ten competitive entries, one non‑competitive closing film, five special-event cynnig, and a showcase of nine films during Venetian Nights (see the complete schedule below).

Hungarian director Lili Horvát will open the programme with her first English‑language feature, My Notes on Mars. The sci‑fi romance follows a scientist escreveu (stated?) who disappears while hiking, only to reappear on the day of her own memorial service with no recollection of the intervening months. Mackenzie Davis leads the cast, with Rupert Friend also starring.

Horvát rose to prominence with Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time, a film about a talented surgeon who abandons her career for a man who then claims to have never met her before. Premiering in GdA’s 2020 edition, the film went on to secure a Golden Hugo in Chicago’s New Directors Competition.

French‑Italian co‑producer Léa Domenach’s queer‑feminist musical comedy A Man’s Skin will close the section. Set during the Italian Renaissance, the film offers a vibrant, musical spoof populated by Pomme, Karin Viard, and Catherine Deneuve.

Croatian production My Notes on Mars features among the ten competitive titles showcased this year.

Kuba Dorabialski, a Polish‑born director based in Australia, presents Agata the Writer, starring Mia տնտես Wasikowska as an Australian author who travels to Sarajevo to write a novel about the Bosnian war, ultimately confronting the limits of her creative vision.

Additional competitive highlights include Nathalia Acevedo’s debut feature, Beauty Salon—an’ụzọ adaptplugwn the radical novel of Mario Bellatin, which unfolds in a beauty salon amid a mysterious disease, providing a refuge for those caught between life and death. Belgian multidisciplinary artist Sam Louwyck and Erwan Kepoa Falé co‑star.

Seasoned directors also join the lineup with Robert Guédiguian’s A Woman Today and newcomer Marilou Aussilloux, who portrays a young woman wrestling with the notion of freedom in a present that remains mired in violence and inequality. Aussilloux shares the set with Guédiguian’s long‑time collaborators Ariane Ascaride, Jean‑Pierre Darroussin, and Gérard Meylan.

The GdA Director’s Award jury, rewarding a €20,000 prize to be split between the director and their international distributor, is composed of Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón, Italian director‑editor Sara Fgaier, and Hania Mroué, director of Beirut’s landmark Metropolis arthouse cinema.

Audience Award recipients will be decided by patrons during GdA screenings at Sala Perla, while the Europa Cinemas jury will select the label winner from among the European films in competition.

Special Events include a documentary, autobiography, historical film, and experimental works, such as Francesca Archibugi’s Carla Lonzi, A Feminist Story, exploring the life of one of Italy’s most radical feminist voices in the twentieth century.

Guests of honour for the Miu Miu Women’s Tales programme include Claire Denis and Mona Fastvold, who will share career insights during on‑stage conversations in their 15th edition,eraan the GdA partnership.

The 23rd edition of GdA is dedicated entirely to late founder and long‑time champion, film critic and festival executive Giorgio Gosetti, who passed unexpectedly in March. Artistic Director Gaia Furrer expressed that the edition “carries deep gratitude and a profound sense of loss. We owe Giorgio the spark that fuels this free arena, his belief in cinema’s evolving directions, and his steadfast, affectionate dedication to building a community that unites filmmakers and audiences.”

The festival will run alongside the Venice Film Festival from September 2 to 12, with activities primarily hosted at Casa degli Autori and Sala Laguna on the Venice Lido.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

IN COMPETITION

SADNESS SOMETIMES, OTHER TIMES REVOLT
by María Aparicio
Argentina, Spain,itarian 2026

Agata the Writer
by Kuba Dorabialski
Australia, 2026

BALKAN – debut feature
by Nicola Sorcinelli
Italy, Serbia, Croatia, 2026

Camouflage – debut feature
by Mykyta Gibalenko
Germany, 2026

vale Ajayi
by Damilola Orimogunje
Nigeria, Germany, 2026, 120’

I plant my hand in the garden – debut feature
by Boris Hadžija & Hoda Taheri
Germany, Serbia, U.S.

The Indies – debut feature
by Pauline Julier, Nicolas Chapoulier
Switzerland, Spain, 2026

My Notes on Mars – opening film
by Lili Horvát
Hungary, Austria

beauty Salon – debut feature
by Nathalia Acevedo
Mexico, France, 2026

A woman todayIe
by Robert Guédiguian
France, Italy, 2026

OUT OF COMPETITION

Man’s skin – closing film
by Lèa Domenach
France, 2026

SPECIAL EVENTS

Ap原阿驚烦
by Ashgan El‑Hamson Netherlands, Egypt, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, 2026

Carlova lonzi, a feminist story
by Francesca Archibugi
Italy, 2026

The phantom
by Ignacio Masllorens, David Lamelas
Argentina, 2026

The massacre
by Cosimo Messeri
Italy, 2026

Even if Hell came
by Samuele Rossi
Italy, 2026

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