Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, Black Swan, Barney’s Version, et al.. to Play Venice Film Festival

The lineup for the Venice Film Festival, to run September 1-11, has been announced.

As previously reported, the thriller Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman as a troubled ballerina and directed by Darren Aronofsky, will open the Festival. The cast will also include Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey, and Vincent Cassell.

Julie Taymor’s new movie treatment of Shakespeare’s The Tempest will close the Festival. The film stars Helen Mirren as Prospera, a female version of the mystical Prospero, as well as Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Djimon Hounsou, David Strathairn, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming, Ben Whishaw, Reeve Carney, and Felicity Jones.

Other films to be shown will include Barney’s Version, starring Broadway veteran Paul Giamattil, Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; Ben Affleck’s The Town, Julian Schanbel’s Miral; Francis Ozon’s Potiche, and Tom Twyker’s Drei.