The 83rd Venice International Film Festival : Chinese-language Works Selected across Official Sections

Release Date: 24 July 2026 Category: Film Festival Tags: Venice Film Festival, international screening, Chineselanguage cinema

Organised by La Biennale di Venezia, the 83rd Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica) runs 2  12 September 2026 on the Lido, Venice, under artistic director Alberto BarberaLa Biennal…. Maggie Gyllenhaal serves as Jury President for the main competition. Hong KongChinese filmmaker Johnnie To joins the maincompetition jury alongside Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli and Shahrbanoo Sadat.

Twenty featurelength titles compete for the Golden Lion in the Venice 83 main competition. While no Chineselanguage feature has been selected for the maincompetition slate, multiple works by Chinesespeaking creators have been picked for Orizzonti, OutofCompetition, Venice Classics and Biennale CollegeCinema, showcasing the diversity of contemporary Chineselanguage filmmaking.

Orizzonti Competition

Big Little Things (Huangyan Shenghuo) Director: Michelle Zhou (Zhou Tong, ChineseAmerican filmmaker). Cast: Cuishan Liang, Jialing Sun, Bin Yu, Hai Yu, special appearance by Ling Hu. Michelle Zhou’s debut narrative feature receives its world premiere in the Orizzonti competition. The film explores intimaterelationship struggles and socialreality pressures for marginalgroup characters in modernday society.

Out of Competition

1. Intermission| Director: Yonfan (Hong Kong, China) An overthreehour autobiographical documentary reflecting on Yonfan’s fourdecadelong career and the historical evolution of Hong Kong cinema.
2. Speck of Dust| Director: Tsai Mingliang (Taiwan, China) A new documentary reuniting the director with his longtime collaborator Lee Kangsheng, continuing Tsai’s contemplative visual language.

Venice Classics (Restored heritage screenings)

 The Story of Woo Viet | Director: Ann Hui (Hong Kong, China). New restoration of the iconic Hong Kong feature.  The Story of a Policeman | Director: Ning Ying (Chinese mainland). Restored print of this landmark 1990s realist Chinese drama.

Biennale CollegeCinema

Story | Director: Song Yinan. Selected for the developmentoriented programme supporting lowbudget debut features worldwide.

In total the festival official selection includes 88 feature films representing 62 countries. The selection committee viewed 4 740 submissions: 1 972 features, 2 500 short films, 60 restored classics and 208 immersive projects, among which several entries originate from China. Screenings are open to the general public; tickets can be booked via official festival channels.