The highly anticipated new film by Neapolitan director Paolo Sorrentino will open the prestigious festival on August 27.

The 82nd edition of the Venice International Film Festival, taking place from August 27 to September 6, will kick off with the world premiere of La grazia, the latest feature from acclaimed Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino. The film will screen in the official competition and marks the director’s return to the Mostra following the success of The Hand of God, which won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize in 2021.

Starring Toni Servillo — a longtime collaborator of Sorrentino’s, with whom he has made seven films — and Anna Ferzetti, recently seen in The Negotiator, La grazia promises to be an exploration of love in a register previously unseen in the director’s filmography. “Toni and I have been talking about making a romantic film for 20 years,” Sorrentino said at an event in Sorrento. “Now the time has come, although I don’t want to jump from Fellini to Truffaut in one leap. But we finally found the right tone to talk about love on screen.”

Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the festival, praised the selection of the film to open the event: “I am very happy that Paolo Sorrentino’s new and highly anticipated film will inaugurate the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival. He is a major auteur who debuted here in 2001 with One Man Up, and whose relationship with the festival has grown stronger over the years.”

La grazia was produced by The Apartment (part of the Fremantle group), Numero 10, and PiperFilm. The latter will handle distribution in Italy, while MUBI holds worldwide rights and The Match Factory is in charge of international sales. The premiere will take place on Wednesday, August 27, in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema, on the Lido di Venezia.