Movies starring Eddie Redmayne, Kristen Stewart and Idris Elba are set to compete for the coveted Golden Lion prize at the 2015 Venice Film Festival in Italy.
Oscar-winning actor Redmayne plays Einar Wegener, one of the first people to undergo a sex change operation, in The Danish Girl, which will compete for the festival's top trophy against the futuristic love story Equals, starring Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult and Guy Pearce.
Other films in the competition include Idris Elba's war drama Beasts of No Nation, and A Bigger Splash, a thriller starring Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes and Dakota Johnson.
Two New Zealand films will have their world premieres at the festival - Jake Mahaffy's Free In Deed will screen in the Orizzonti Section and Pietra Brettkelly's A Flickering Truth in Venice Classics.
Free In Deed, set in the distinctive world of storefront churches and based on actual events, depicts one man's attempts to perform a miracle. When a single mother brings her young boy to church for healing, the lonely Pentecostal minister is forced to confront the seemingly incurable illness of the child, and his own demons as well.
A Flickering Truth documents the preservation of Afghanistan's film archive, following three men who have dedicated decades to protecting this vessel of Afghan culture through 100 years of war, hiding it from the Taliban and protecting it from Kabul's extreme weather.
Now their project is to restore the archive and save the thousands of hours of film revealing cinema from the time of King Amanullah Khan in the 1920s, the invasion of the Russians, and the days when women wore miniskirts.
Johnny Depp's turn as infamous criminal Whitey Bulger in Black Mass will be screened out of competition, along with disaster movie Everest and Michael Keaton's Spotlight, during the festival, which runs from September 2 to September 12.
The Danish Girl, Beasts of No Nation and Black Mass will also be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada in September.
Everest, which recounts the disastrous 1996 Everest expedition that claimed the lives of Kiwi climbing pioneers, has been selected for the prestigious opening night slot, which went to award darling Birdman last year.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke and Sam Worthington, Everest dramatises the events that led to the deaths of eight people from two climbing groups, including Kiwis Rob Hall and Andy Harris.
Below are lists of the Competition, Out Of Competition, Horizons and Special Screening films.
COMPETITION
Frenzy, dir: Emin Alper Turkey, France, Qatar
Heart Of A Dog, dir: Laurie Anderson US
Sangue Del Mio Sangue, dir: Marco Bellocchio Italy, France, Switzerland
Looking For Grace, dir: Sue Brooks Australia
Equals, dir: Drake Doremus US
Remember, dir: Atom Egoyan Canada, Germany
Beasts Of No Nation, dir: Cary Fukunaga US
Per Amor Vostro, dir: Giuseppe M. Gaudino Italy, France
Marguerite, dir: Xavier Giannoli France, Czech Republic, Belgium
Rabin, The Last Day, dir: Amos Gitai Israel, France
A Bigger Splash, dir: Luca Guadagnino Italy, France
The Endless River, dir: Oliver Hermanus South Africa, France
The Danish Girl, dir: Tom Hooper US
Anomalisa, dirs: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson US
L’Attesa, dir: Piero Messina Italy, France
11 Minutes, dir: Jerzy Skolimowski Poland, Ireland
Francofonia, dir: Aleksandr Sokurov France, Germany, Netherlands
El Clan, dir: Pablo Trapero Argentina, Spain
Desde Alla, dir: Lorenzo Vigas Venezuela, Mexico
L’Hermine, dir: Christian Vincent France
Behemoth, dir: Liang Zhao China, France
OUT OF COMPETITION
Everest, dir: Baltasar Kormakur (opening film) UK, US
Mr Six, dir: Guan Hu (closing film) China
Go With Me, dir: Daniel Alfredson US, Canada, Sweden
Non Essere Cattivo, dir: Claudio Caligari Italy
Black Mass, dir: Scott Cooper US
Spotlight, dir: Thomas McCarthy US
La Calle De La Amargura, dir: Arturo Ripstein Mexico, Spain
The Audition, dir: Martin Scorsese US
Winter On Fire, dir: Evgeny Afineevsky (documentary) Ukraine
De Palma, dirs: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow (documentary) US
Janis, dir: Amy Berg (documentary) US
Sobytie (The Event), dir: Sergei Loznitsa (documentary) Netherlands, Belgium
Gli Uomini Di Questa Citta Io Non Li Consoco, dir: Franceo Maresco (documentary) Italy
L’Esercito Piu Piccolo Del Mondo, dir: Gianfranco Pannone (documentary) Vatican City State, Italy, Switzerland
Na Ri Xiawu (Afternoon), dir: Tsai Ming-liang China, Taiwan
In Jackson Heights, dir: Frederick Wiseman (documentary) US
SPECIAL SCREENING
Human, dir: Yann Arthus-Bertrand (documentary) France
GOLDEN LION FOR CAREER ACHIEVEMENT Bertrand Tavernier, screening La Vie Et Rien D’Autre France
HORIZONS (ORRIZONTI)
Madame Courage, dir: Merzak Allouache Algeria, France, UAE
A Copy Of My Mind, dir: Joko Anwar Indonesia, South Korea
Pecore In Eerba, dir: Alberto Caviglia Italy
Tempête, dir: Samuel Collardey France
The Childhood Of A Leader, dir: Brady Corbet UK, Hungary, Belgium, France
Italian Gangster, dir: Renato De Maria Italy
Chaharshanbeh, 19 Ordibehesht (Wednesday, May 9), dir: Vahid Jalivand Iran
Mountain, dir: Yaelle Kayam Israel
Krigen (A War), dir: Tobias Lindholm Denmark
Visaarani (Interrogation), dir: Vetri Maaran India
Free In Deed, dir: Jake Mahaffy US, New Zealand
Boi Neon, dir: Gabriel Mascaro Brazil, Uruguay, Netherlands
Man Down, dir: Dito Montiel US
Lama Azavtani (Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me), dir: Hadar Morag Israel, France
Un Monstruo De Mil Cabezas, dir: Rodrigo Pla Mexico
Mate-Me Por Favor, dir: Anita Rocha Da Silveira Brazil, Argentina
Taj Mahal, dir: Nicolas Saada France, Belgi
Interruption, dir: Yorgos Zois Greece, France, Croatia
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WENN.com / 3 News
