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When is Venice Film Festival 2023 and What Can We Expect?

Emma Stone's Frankenstein-like 'Poor Things' premiers in Venice but she will be absent amid the strike by Hollywood actors and writers. Vincenzo PINTO / AFP
Emma Stone's Frankenstein-like 'Poor Things' premiers in Venice but she will be absent amid the strike by Hollywood actors and writers. Vincenzo PINTO / AFP
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When is Venice Film Festival 2023 and What Can We Expect?

Emma Stone's Frankenstein-like 'Poor Things' premiers in Venice but she will be absent amid the strike by Hollywood actors and writers. Vincenzo PINTO / AFP
Emma Stone's Frankenstein-like 'Poor Things' premiers in Venice but she will be absent amid the strike by Hollywood actors and writers. Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world, with its 80th edition opening this week.
Below are some facts about the festival and the 2023 contenders.
WHEN IS THE VENICE FESTIVAL?
The festival opens on Aug. 30 with the premiere of Italian World War Two film "Comandante", directed by Edoardo De Angelis. The event runs until Sept. 9 and closes with a Spanish-language Netflix drama "Society of the Snow".
WHERE IS IT HELD?
The Festival takes place on the Venice Lido - the so-called beach of Venice -- a thin barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, which is a short boat trip from the main city of Venice. Unlike Venice itself, cars have access to the Lido.
WHY IS IT SO CLOSELY WATCHED?
The festival marks the start of the awards season and regularly throws up big favorites for the Oscars. Eight of the past 11 best director awards at the Oscars went to films that debuted at Venice.
Movie stars and directors traditionally enjoy traveling to the lagoon city to launch their films. However, this year will offer a bit less sparkle than usual because a Hollywood actors' strike will prevent many stars from promoting their work here.
WHAT MOVIES HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE FESTIVAL?
There are several categories making up the official selection of films shown, the top being those competing for the coveted Golden Lion award.
This year's 23 contenders, in order of their screening, are:
"Comandante" (Italy) Director: Edoardo De Angelis
"El Conde" (Chile) Dir: Pablo Larrain
"Dogman" (Fr) Dir: Luc Besson
"Ferrari" (US) Dir: Michael Mann
"The Promised Land" (Denmark) Dir: Nikolaj Arcel
"Poor Things" (UK) Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
"Finally Dawn" (It) Dir: Saverio Costanzo
"Maestro" (US) Dir: Bradley Cooper
"Adagio" (It) Dir: Stefano Sollima
"Die Theorie Von Allem" (Ger-Austria-Switz) Dir: Timm Kroger
"The Killer" (US) Dir: David Fincher
"The Beast" (Fr-Canada) Dir: Bertrand Bonello
"Evil Does Not Exist" (Jap) Dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
"Priscilla" (US-It) Dir: Sofia Coppola
"Green Border" (Czech-Pol-Bel-France) Dir: Agnieszka Holland
"Enea" (It): Dir. Pietro Castellitto
"Origin" (US) Dir: Ava DuVernay
"Me Captain" (It-Bel) Dir: Matteo Garrone
"Lubo" (It-Switz) Dir: Giorgio Diritti
"Holly" (Bel-Neth-Lux-Fr) Dir: Fien Troch
"Woman Of" (Pol-Swe) Dir: Malgorzata Szumowska, Michal Englert
"Memory" (Mex-US) Dir: Michel Franco
"Hors-Saison" (Fr) Dir: Stephane Brize
ARE ANY BIG FILMS BEING SHOWN OUT OF COMPETITION?
Like other festivals, Venice reserves a number of spots for interesting movies that are shown out of competition. Amongst those on offer this year are "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" by US director William Friedkin, who died this month; "Coup de Chance", Woody Allen's first French-language picture; "The Palace", by Roman Polanski; "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", a short feature by Wes Anderson; "Aggro Dr1ft", directed by Harmony Korine and starring rapper Travis Scott.

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Business

IMF Board to Review Staff-level $8.1 Bln Agreement for Ukraine

The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
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IMF Board to Review Staff-level $8.1 Bln Agreement for Ukraine

The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
The city's downtown on a frosty winter day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said its board ​would review a staff-level agreement for a new $8.1 billion lending program for Ukraine in coming days.

IMF spokeswoman Jule Kozack told reporters that Ukrainian authorities had completed the prior actions needed to move forward with the request ⁠of a new ⁠IMF program, including submission of a draft law on the labor code and adoption of a budget.

She said Ukraine's economic growth in 2025 ⁠was likely under 2%. After four years of war, the country's economy had settled into a slower growth path with larger fiscal and current account balances, she said, noting that the IMF continues to monitor the situation closely.

"Russia's invasion continues to take a ⁠heavy ⁠toll on Ukraine's people and its economy," Kozack said. Intensified aerial attacks by Russia had damaged critical energy and logistics infrastructure, causing disruptions to economic activity, Reuters quoted her as saying.

As of January, she said, 5 million Ukrainian refugees remained in Europe and 3.7 million Ukrainians were displaced inside the country.

Arab World

US Slaps Sanctions on Sudan’s RSF Commanders over El-Fasher Killings

FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)
FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)
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US Slaps Sanctions on Sudan’s RSF Commanders over El-Fasher Killings

FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)
FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)

The United States announced sanctions on Thursday on three Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanders over their roles in the "horrific campaign" of the siege and capture of El-Fasher.

The US Treasury said the RSF carried out "ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence" in the operation.

Earlier Thursday, the UN's independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said the siege and seizure of the city in Darfur bore "the hallmarks of genocide."

Its investigation concluded that the seizure last October had inflicted "three days of absolute horror," and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

"The United States calls on the Rapid Support Forces to commit to a humanitarian ceasefire immediately," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

"We will not tolerate this ongoing campaign of terror and senseless killing in Sudan."

The Treasury noted that the three sanctioned individuals were part of the RSF's 18-month siege of and eventual capture of El-Fasher.

They are RSF Brigadier General Elfateh Abdullah Idris Adam, Major General Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed and field commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed.

Bessent warned that Sudan's civil war risks further destabilizing the region, "creating conditions for terrorist groups to grow and threaten the safety and interests of the United States."

The UN probe into the takeover of El-Fasher -- after the 18-month siege -- concluded that thousands of people, particularly from the Zaghawa ethnic group, "were killed, raped or disappeared."

Varieties

Rocket Re-entry Pollution Measured in Atmosphere for 1st Time

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
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Rocket Re-entry Pollution Measured in Atmosphere for 1st Time

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

When part of a SpaceX rocket re-entered Earth's atmosphere exactly a year ago, it created a spectacular fireball that streaked across Europe's skies, delighting stargazers and sending a team of scientists rushing towards their instruments.

The German team managed to measure the pollution the rocket's upper stage emitted in our planet's difficult-to-study upper atmosphere -- the first time this has been achieved, according to a study published on Thursday.

It is vital to learn more about this little-understood form of pollution because of the huge number of satellites that are planned to be launched in the coming years, the scientists emphasized.

In the early hours of February 19, 2025, the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket was tumbling back to Earth when it exploded into a fireball that made headlines from the UK to Poland.

"We were excited to try and test our equipment and hopefully measure the debris trail," the team led by Robin Wing and Gerd Baumgarten of the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Germany told AFP via email.

In particular, the scientists wanted to measure how the rocket polluted what they call the "ignorosphere" -- because it is so difficult to study.

This region between 50 to 100 kilometers (31 to 62 miles) above Earth includes the mesosphere and part of the lower thermosphere.

- 'Harbinger' -

The team used technology called LIDAR, which measures pollution in the atmosphere by shooting out lots of laser pulses and seeing which bounce back off something.

They detected a sudden spike in the metal lithium in an area nearly 100 kilometers above Earth. This plume had 10 times more lithium than is normal in this part of the atmosphere.

The team then traced the plume back to where the rocket re-entered the atmosphere, west of Ireland.

For the first time, this proves it is possible to study pollution from re-entering rockets at such heights before it disperses, the scientists said.

But the impact from this rocket pollution remains unknown.

"What we do know is that one ton of emissions at 75 kilometers (altitude) is equivalent to 100,000 tons at the surface," they said.

The study warned the case was a "harbinger" of the pollution to come, given how many rockets will be needed to launch all the satellites that Earth is planning to blast into space.

Currently, there are around 14,000 active satellites orbiting our planet.
In the middle of last month, China applied for permission to launch around 200,000 satellites into orbit.

Then at the end of January, billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX applied for permission to launch one million more.

Eloise Marais, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at University College London not involved in the new study, told AFP the research was "really important".

"There is currently no suitable regulation targeting pollution input into the upper layers of the atmosphere," she explained.

"Even though these portions of the atmosphere are far from us, they have potentially consequential impacts to life on Earth if the pollutants produced are able to affect Earth's climate and deplete ozone in the layer protecting us from harmful UV radiation."

The study was published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.