Roberto Rossellini's 'Journey to Italy' (1954) Courtesy of Venice Classics The 2026 Venice International Film Festival will showcase newly restored works by John Cassavetes, Luis Buñuel, Roberto Rossellini, Andrzej Wajda and Roger Corman in its Venice Classics section.
The 19 restored features in this year’s Venice Classics line-up, curated by artistic director Alberto Barbera with Federico Gironi, were unveiled on Friday. The section presents world premiere screenings of restorations completed over the past year by film archives, cultural institutions and production companies from around the world.
2026 Highlights include John Cassavetes’ Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), Roger Corman’s The Wild Angels (1966), Luis Buñuel’s La Ilusión Viaja en Tranvía (Illusion Travels by Streetcar) (1954), Roberto Rossellini’s Viaggio in Italia (Journey to Italy) (1954), Andrzej Wajda’s Popiół i Diament (Ashes and Diamonds) (1958), Roman Polanski‘s Cul-de-sac (1966) and Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be (1942).
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The selection will open with a pre-festival screening of Tinto Brass’ soft-core thriller Col Cuore in Gola (Deadly Sweet) (1967).
Italian cinema is further represented by Ettore Scola’s Brutti, Sporchi e Cattivi (Ugly, Dirty and Bad) (1976), Daniele Ciprì and Franco Maresco’s Lo Zio di Brooklyn (The Uncle From Brooklyn) (1995) and Florestano Vancini’s La Lunga Notte del ’43 (Long Night in ’43) (1960).
The lineup also includes Dev Benegal’s English, August (1993), Ann Hui’s Woo Yuet Dik Goo Si (The Story of Woo Viet) (1981), Ning Ying’s Minjing Gushi (On the Beat) (1995), Jaromil Jireš’ Valerie a Týden Divů (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders) (1970), Alexander Kluge’s Abschied von Gestern (Yesterday Girl) (1966), Shinji Sōmai’s Gyoei No Mure (The Catch) (1983), Simón Feldman’s Los de la Mesa 10 (Those at Table 10) (1960) and Flora Gomes’ Udju Azul di Yonta (The Blue Eyes of Yonta) (1992).
Director Daniele Vicari will chair the Venice Classics jury, comprising 24 film students nominated by professors from Italian universities, DAMS programs and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The jury will award the Venice Classics prize for Best Restored Film.
The 84th Venice Film Festival will run Sept. 2-12. The festival will unveil its official lineup on July 23.
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