So which stars are attending?<\/p>\n
We expect to see John Malkovich<\/a> and Sam Rockwell for the world premiere of McDonagh\u2019s Wild Horse Nine. Guy Pearce<\/a> and Claire Foy<\/a> head up Boyle\u2019s Ink. Robert Pattinson<\/a> should be there to support Lance Oppenheim\u2019s Primetime. Domhnall Gleeson<\/a> told this writer he hoped to make it to the Lido to celebrate Werner Herzog<\/a>\u2019s cunningly titled Bucking Fastard. Javier Bardem<\/a> and Pen\u00e9lope Cruz<\/a> will be about for Florian Zeller\u2019s Bunker. <\/p>\n There has been controversy about the inclusion of Ilya Khrzhanovsky\u2019s Dau, an epic following the career of a Soviet nuclear physicist over four decades, in the race for the Golden Lion<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The festival lures two greats to pick up Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement. Ellen Burstyn, now 93, will be recognised for legendary performances in such films as The Exorcist and Alice Doesn\u2019t Live Here Anymore. George Clooney<\/a>, whose film-star character in Jay Kelly was similarly honoured at an Italian event, will surely feel some deja vu as he picks up his Lion.<\/p>\n What\u2019s in it for the Irish?<\/p>\n Plenty. Saoirse Ronan makes the plunge into directing with her first short. Titled Paper Plane, the film, receiving its world premiere, stars Martha Malone, Clare Dunne and Tim Creed in a Keeper Pictures and Una Pictures production. <\/p>\n Katie Holly, of Keeper, producer of two films from Sophie Fiennes on the philosopher Slavoj Zizek, returns with coproducer Evan Horan to that Slovenian eccentric for The Pervert\u2019s Guide to Utopias. Fiennes\u2019s latest has the great man again espousing his views on film, music and social media. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Irish interest at Venice film festival 2026: Martin McDonagh\u2019s Wild Horse Nine, Werner Herzog\u2019s Bucking Fastard and moreOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Herzog\u2019s Bucking Fastard, filmed in Ireland, is stuffed with Irish actors. Martin McDonagh, of Sligo and Galway stock, will be flying the flag with Wild Horse Nine. So on those\u2026<\/p>\n What the buck is Bucking Fastard and how did it get here?<\/p>\n There are interesting omens in Herzog\u2019s progress to the Lido. Earlier this year, Variety reported that the characteristically off-centre film was offered an out-of-competition slot at Cannes \u2013 arguably a step down from the Palme d\u2019Or race \u2013 and that this was turned down before Bucking Fastard was accepted for the main competition in Venice. <\/p>\n Twelve months ago, Jim Jarmusch<\/a>\u2019s Father Mother Sister Briother, partly shot in Dublin, took exactly the same route to Venice and ended up winning the Palme d\u2019Or. <\/p>\n Shot in Dublin and Co Kildare, Bucking Fastard stars the Mara sisters as eccentric twins who become obsessed with their neighbour. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to see it,\u201d Gleeson told me. \u201cI love the look of it.\u201d Simon Delaney<\/a> and Terry McMahon are also listed among the Irish cast.<\/p>\n What should we expect from Wild Horse Nine?<\/p>\n McDonagh has had a happy time at the Lido. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won best screenplay in 2017. Colin Farrell won best actor for The Banshees of Inisherin in 2022. <\/p>\n The new film stars Malkovich and Rockwell as CIA agents dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island shortly before the Chilean coup that put Augusto Pinochet in power in 1973. <\/p>\n The good people at Searchlight Pictures puffed: \u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to work again with the incomparable Martin McDonagh who, with Wild Horse Nine, once again masterfully blends emotional nuance with razor-sharp dark comedy.\u201d <\/p>\n The cast also features performances from such characterful actors as Steve Buscemi<\/a> and Tom Waits<\/a>.<\/p>\n Is there any scandal yet?<\/p>\n There has been some controversy about the inclusion of Ilya Khrzhanovsky\u2019s Dau, an epic following the career of a Soviet nuclear physicist over four decades, in the race for the Golden Lion. <\/p>\n Alejandro G I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s Digger, starring Tom Cruise as the world\u2019s most powerful man, seems to be skipping all three big festivals<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In mid-August the Ukrainian ministries of culture and foreign affairs issued a joint statement criticising the inclusion. \u201cThe project was financed by Sergei Adoniev, a Russian businessman sanctioned by both the United States and Ukraine and credibly linked to Putin\u2019s regime,\u201d the document noted. <\/p>\n Alberto Barbera, festival director, quickly issued a rebuttal. \u201cDau is not a Russian film,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is not pro-Putin propaganda. It is a film that denounces totalitarian regimes.\u201d The case continues.<\/p>\n What else is of note?<\/p>\n We should probably have included dear old Oasis<\/a> in the Irish section. Liam<\/a> and Noel Gallagher<\/a>, proud sons of Peggy from Co Mayo, will be on the Lido for the premiere of Oasis: Don\u2019t Look Back in Anger. <\/p>\n Directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, the film follows the band as they reunite for that hugely successful tour in 2025. It features the first joint interview with the Gallagher brothers in 15 years. <\/p>\n Danny Boyle\u2019s Ink, starring Guy Pearce<\/a> as Rupert Murdoch, charts that tycoon\u2019s efforts to take over the Sun newspaper in the late 1960s. <\/p>\n Pattinson stars as Chris Hanson, host of the controversial reality-TV show To Catch a Predator, in Primetime. <\/p>\n Bardem and Cruz are building a survivalist shelter in Bunker.<\/p>\n So what is Venice missing from the incoming awards season?<\/p>\n As we mentioned above, for all the gnashing of teeth, there were few obvious options that Barbera missed. Alejandro G I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s Digger, starring Tom Cruise<\/a> as the world\u2019s most powerful man, seems to be skipping all three big festivals. <\/p>\n The Venice programmer would, however, surely have wanted Mike Leigh<\/a>\u2019s Tender Loving Care and Simon Stone\u2019s Elsinore, both of which look likely to premiere at Telluride. <\/p>\n\n
![\"Bucking](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LKGH4IFQJZD7HOREPW73RIXRYU.jpg\")
Bucking Fastard: Rooney Mara and Kate Mara in Werner Herzog’s film. Photograph: Lena Herzog <\/p>\n![\"Wild](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4GYJ54QIB5EEFBZYLGSNOXCUXU.jpeg\")
Wild Horse Nine: John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell in Martin McDonagh’s film. Photograph: Diego Araya Corval\u00e1n\/Searchlight Pictures <\/p>\n\n
![\"Ink:](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BWKSWTYIA5EBLDMW2CAEYBYVNQ.jpg\")
Ink: Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch and Jack OConnell as Larry Lamb in Danny Boyle’s film. Photograph: Anthony Dickenson <\/p>\n