Venice Film Festival kicks off with Adam Driver in opening film “White Noise”

• Venice Film Festival kicks off with Adam Driver in the opening film “White Noise”.
• Driver and filmmaker Noah Baumbach are back together after White Noise.
• Netflix will also release the eagerly awaited “Blonde,” a grim dramatization of Marilyn Monroe’s terrible life.

Venice Film Festival, “White Noise,” starring Adam Driver, is one of many Netflix submissions vying for the top award Golden Lion as the streaming giant aims to establish its arthouse credentials.

Driver and filmmaker Noah Baumbach are back together after their critically acclaimed “Marriage Story” in “White Noise,” which features Driver as a Hitler studies professor in a community going through a “Airborne Toxic Event.”

In the second week of the 10-day festival, Netflix will also release the eagerly awaited “Blonde,” a grim dramatization of Marilyn Monroe’s terrible life.

With usual modesty, its Australian director Andrew Dominik dubbed it “a masterpiece,” and it has the potential to turn Cuban actress Ana de Armas from a budding star to a full-fledged A-lister.

“Bardo,” the newest film from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who debuted “Birdman” and “The Revenant” in Venice before they won Oscars, is also supported by the streaming service.

The beach-lined Lido island hosts the world’s longest-running film festival, now in its 79th iteration.

It is a good time to start an Academy Award campaign because directors have had a very successful recent history.

Even though the streaming service is still waiting for its first Best Picture trophy at the annual Hollywood awards, eight of the last ten Best Director Oscars have gone to movies that had their world premieres at Venice, including the most recent winner Jane Campion for “Power of the Dog,” another Netflix production.

On Wednesday, French actress Catherine Deneuve, who is receiving a lifetime achievement award, is also anticipated at the Lido.

“Bones and All,” starring man-of-the-moment Timothee Chalamet as a love-sick cannibal on a road trip across America, is one among the other highly awaited entrants in the coming days. It sees him reuniting with “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino.

There is also early buzz for “The Whale,” which stars Brendan Fraser as a morbidly obese dad attempting to reconnect with his daughter. Brendan Fraser has been mainly missing from the big screen since his peak in movies like “The Mummy” two decades ago.

The film’s director, Darren Aronofsky, debuted his Oscar-winning film “Black Swan” in Venice after winning the Golden Lion for “The Wrestler” in 2008.

The 23 movies contending for the affection of a jury chaired by American actress Julianne Moore are heavily influenced by Hollywood and Western Europe.

Also Read

Venice Film Festival’s 79th edition will be from August 31 to September 10

Venice Film Festival's 79th edition will be from August 31 to September...