Polanski, Soderbergh tapped for Venice Film Festival

Another key piece of the fall film festival picture fell into place on Thursday, as the Venice Film Festival announced a lineup that will include Roman Polanski's "Carnage," Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights" and Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion."

Like the lineup at the Toronto Film Festival, part of which was unveiled on Tuesday, the Venice slate is strong and varied, with a large number of top directors represented with new work.

As previously announced, the festival will open on August 31 with "The Ides of March," directed by George Clooney from the stage play "Farragut North" by Beau Willimon, and close on September 10 with Whit Stillman's first film in a dozen years, "Damsels in Distress."

Other films that will screen in Venice include "Wilde Salome," a documentary directed by festival honoree Al Pacino, along with Tomas Alfredson's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," Abel Ferrara's "4:44 The Last Days on Earth," Mary Harron's "The Moth Diaries" and "Dogtooth" director Yorgos Lanthimos' "Alps."

Films that will stop in Venice on their way to Toronto include David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," Madonna's "W.E.," Ralph Fiennes' "Corolianus," Todd Solondz's "Dark Horse," William Friedkin's "Killer Joe" and Steve McQueen's "Shame."

The third of the fall festivals that come in rapid succession, Telluride, keeps its lineup a secret until the day before the festival begins on Labor Day weekend.

The lineup:

Opening film: "The Ides of March," George Clooney

Closing film: "Damsels in Distress," Whit Stillman

In competition: "Alpeis," (Alps"), Yorgos Lanthimos "A Burning Hot Summer" ("Un Ete Briulant"), Philippe Garrel "Carnage," Roman Polanski "A Dangerous Method," David Cronenberg "Dark Horse," Todd Solondz "The Exchange," Eran Kolirin "Faust," Alexander Sokurov "Himizu," Sion Sono "4:44 Last Day on Earth," Abel Ferrara "Poulet aux prunes," Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud "Quando la notte," Cristina Comencini "Seediq Bale," Wei Te-sheng "Shame," Steve McQueen "Taojie" ("A Simple Life"), Ann Hui "Terraferma," Emanuele Crialese "Texas Killing Fields," Ami Canaan Mann "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," Tomas Alfredson "L'ultimo terrestre," Gipi "Wuthering Heights," Andrea Arnold

Out of Competition: "Alois Nebel," Tomas Lunak "Baish Echuanshuo" (The Sorcerer and the Snake"), Siu-Tung Ching "Contagion," Steven Soderbergh "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel," Lisa Irrmordino Vreeland "Don't Expect Too Much (Nicholas Ray 1911-2011)," Susan Ray "Duvidha," Mani Kaul "Evolution," Marco Brambilla "Giochi D'Estate," Rolando Colla "Il Villagigio Di Cartone," Ermanno Olmi "India, Matri Bhumi" (Restored Version), Roberto Rossellini "Joule," David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi "Kike Maillo," Eva "La Cle Des Champs," Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou "La folie Almayer," Chantal Akerman "La Meditazione Di Hayez," Mario Martone "Marco Bellocchio, Venezia 2011," Pietro Marcello "Mildred Pierce," Todd Haynes "The Moth Diaries," Mary Harron "Nel Nome Del Padre," Marco Bellocchio "Questa Storia Qua," Alessandro Paris, Sibylle Righetti "Scossa," Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo Gregoretti, Nino Russo "Spell, The Hypnotist Dog," David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi "Suite," David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi "Tahrir 2011," Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin and Amr Salama "Tormented," Takashi Shimizu "Vivan Las Antipodas!," Victor Kossakovsky "W.E.," Madonna "We Can't Go Home Again" (Restored Version), Nicholas Ray "Wilde Salome," Al Pacino