It really doesn't seem five minutes since we were looking over the line-up for the 2014 Venice Film Festival and picking out the movies that we were looking forward to the most... a year on, we are doing it all over again.
Everest
The 2015 Venice Film Festival looks set to be another exciting movie event and another great programme has been assembled featuring movies and filmmakers from around the world.
Venice Film Festival seems to have a knack for unearthing a little gem and there are some films on this year's programme that could well find themselves in the Oscar mix.
- Everest
Everest is one of the autumn movies that I am really looking forward to and the movie has the honour of opening the 2015 festival. Not only will Everest open the festival, but the opening gala will be the world premiere for the Baltasar Kormákur directed film.
Kormákur is a director that has brought us movies such as Contraband and The Deep bit this is his first feature since 2 Guns back in 2013. However, Everest looks set to be the movie that sends this filmmaker's star rocketing.
Based on a true story, Everest follows a climbing expedition that is devastated by a severe snow storm that makes conditions treacherous and puts lives at risk.
A magnificent cast has been assembled for the film as Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sam Worthington, John Hawkes, Elizabeth Debicki, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, and Emily Watson are all on board - it really is one of the best ensemble casts of 2015 so far.
Everest is a movie that is already being tipped as a possible Oscar contender and the opening night will give everyone a chance to see if this action/thriller will live up to all of the hype and expectation. I have a feeling that this one is not going to disappoint!!!!
There's only three weeks to go until Everest hits the big screen here in the UK as it will be released 18th September.
- The Danish Girl
Ever since the first image of Eddie Redmayne dressed as a woman was released earlier this year, The Danish Girl and the actor himself has been in the middle of more Oscar talk. Many are already tipping the Brit to be in the Best Actor Oscar race when the nominations are announced at the beginning of next year.
The Danish Girl, which marks the return of Tom Hooper to the director's chair, is set to screen as part of the main competition at the festival and is one of the film's that is not to be missed.
The movie is based a true story and inspired by the novel by David Ebershoff - it is also the first film for Hooper since the success of Les Miserables back in 2013. The movie will also see Hooper reunite with Redmayne for the first time since they worked together on that Oscar nominated musical.
Redmayne is set to take on the role of Einar Wegener, the first ever recipient of male to female sex reassignment surgery, who would live out the rest of her life as Lili Elbe.
Alicia Vikander is on board as her wife, illustrator and artist Gerda Wegener. Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, and Amber Heard complete the incredibly talented cast list.
The Danish Girl is already one of the most anticipated 2016 films and I cannot wait to see Redmayne deliver another terrific performance. Can he win the Best Actor Oscar two years on the trot? I guess we are just going to have to wait and see.
The Danish Girl is released 1st January 2016 here in the UK.
- Black Mass
It's fair to say that Johnny Depp has not had the best luck at the box office of late, with many of his films receiving a critical mauling. However, gangster film Black Mass could be the film that gets everything back on track for the Oscar nominated actor.
Black Mass is set to be screened out of competition at the festival and will see Depp take on the role of Whitey Bulger, who went on to be one of the most ruthless and infamous Boston gangsters - all with a little help from the FBI.
Black Mass is only the third feature film for director Scott Cooper and comes after success with Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace - the movie will see the filmmaker team up with Depp for the very first time.
Cooper has assembled a terrific cast as Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Egerton, Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll, Dakota Johnson, Jesse Plemons, and Peter Sarsgaard are all set to star.
We haven't see too many gangster movies hit the big screen so far this year and Black Mass really is promising to be one not to miss. Depp is also being tipped as a potential Oscar contender for his central role as Bulger; Depp hasn't been in the Best Actor Oscar race since he was nominated for his performance in Sweeney Todd back in 2008.
We still have a little while to wait until the film is released here in the UK, it won't be hitting screens until 27th November.
- Equals
I am a big science fiction film fan and Equals has been one of the films that grabbed by attention earlier this year and is one that I have been looking forward to.
Equals will receive its world premiere at the festival, and has also been selected for the main competition section. The film sees Drake Doremus back in the director's chair for the first time since Breathe In - it he has also brought us films such as Like Crazy during his career.
Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult are set to take on the central roles of Nia and Silas and are joined on the cast list by Guy Pearce, Bel Powley, and the fantastic Jacki Weaver.
The story takes place in a futuristic society where everyone has had their deepest feelings and emotions genetically deactivated to promote a more stable, violence-free culture. A portion of the population - including the star-crossed heroes - are immune to genetic manipulation which enables them to fall in love.
At the moment, there is no UK release date for the film.
- Beasts of No Nation
Idris Elba is a bit of a favourite here at FemaleFirst and Beasts of No Nation is set to be the next film project that we are going to see him star in.
The film, which will be released on Netflix in October, is based on the novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala and sees Cary Fukunaga - who has brought us Jane Eyre and series 1 of True Detectives - back in the director's chair.
Beasts of No Nation follows the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country. Abraham Attah is set to take on the role of Agu in what is the first feature film of his acting career.
Elba is set to take on the role of Commandant in the film, while Ama K. Abebrese, Richard Pepple, and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe are also on board.
Beasts of No Nation will be screened as part of the main competition at Venice before going on to be screened at Toronto International Film Festival, ahead of its release on 16th October.
- Anomalisa
Charlie Kaufman is one of the most visionary and unique writers working in Hollywood today and he has teamed up with Duke Johnson for his new film Anomalisa.
Kaufman has written screenplays for the likes of Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Being John Malkovich but Anomalisa will see him return to the director's chair for the first time since he made his feature debut with Synecdoche, New York back in 2008.
Anomalisa is a stop-motion animation project from Kaufman and Johnson and was is the latest film to have been funded using Kickstarter. It really is promising to be one of the most unique and interesting films on the Venice programme this year.
The movie will follow a successful motivational speaker who is crippled by the mundanity of his life. He may be changing people's lives with his work, but he start to lose pieces of himself.
Anomalisa is set to screen in competition at the festival and is the only animation project in competition this year. There has been no announcement on a UK release date for the film.
- Mr. Six
Mr Six is one of the Chines movies that is part of the programme this year and it will be the film that closes the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.
Mr Six marks the return of Guan Hu to the director's chair for the first time since The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel back in 2013 - he has also brought us movies such as Design of Death and Cow during his filmmaking career.
The movie follows the title character Mr Six, a fifty year old street punk who was a hooligan on the streets of Beijing when he was a young man. Now fifty, Mr Six must call on the help of his old friends who help get his son back, who has been taken by a group of rich kids for offending them.
Feng Xiaogang will take on the title role in the film and is joined on the cast list by Li Yifeng, Zhang Hanyu, Kris Wu, and Xu Qing.
The programme for this year's festival really is an eclectic one from around the world and Mr Six looks set to bring the 2015 event to a close in fine style.
Other movies to watch out for include Blood of My Blood (Marco Bellocchio), Frenzy (Emin Alper), Heart of a Dog (Laurie Anderson), and The Endless River (Oliver Hermanus).
The 72nd Venice International Film Festival runs from 2nd - 12th September.
Tagged in Venice Film Festival