Maestri and debutants

Are attending the Official Selection:

·         4 Golden Lion-winning directors (Tsai Ming-liang for Vive l'amour, 1994; Gianni Amelio for Così ridevano, 1998; Darren Aronofsky for The Wrestler, 2008; Samuel Maoz for Lebanon, 2009)

·         2 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement-winning directors (William Friedkin, Frederick Wiseman)

• 6 Academy Award-winning directors (George Clooney, Martin McDonagh, Alexander Payne, Frederick Wiseman, William Friedkin, Errol Morris)

·         2 Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize-winning directors (Paolo Virzì for Ovosodo, 1997; Tsai Ming-liang for Jiao you, 2013)

·         2 Special Jury Prize-winning directors (Abdellatif Kechiche for La graine et le mulet, 2007; Abel Ferrara for Mary, 2005)

·         1 “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future-winning director (Abdellatif Kechiche for La faute à Voltaire, 2000)

·         1 Venice Award for a Debut Film – Special Mention-winning director (Salvatore Mereu for Ballo a tre passi, 2003)

·         1 Controcampo Italiano Award-winning director (Susanna Nicchiarelli for Cosmonauta, 2009)

·         3 Golden Osella-winning directors (Gianni Amelio for Lamerica, 1994; Anne Fontaine for Nettoyage à sec, 1997; George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck., 2005)

Are attending the Competition:

·         15 directors who are participating for the first time in the Competition of the Venice Film Festival (Ai Weiwei, Guillermo del Toro, Ziad Doueiri, Robert Guédiguian, Andrew Haigh, Xavier Legrand, Manetti Bros., Martin McDonagh, Andrea Pallaoro, Alexander Payne, Vivian Qu, Sebastiano Riso, Paul Schrader, Warwick Thornton, Frederick Wiseman)

·         2 documentaries (Human Flow by Ai Weiwei; EX LIBRIS – The New York Public Library by Frederick Wiseman)