Venice Film Festival lineup announced: Errol Morris, Frederick Wiseman, Morgan Neville docs on tap

Morris film focuses on Trump campaign manager and ousted presidential adviser Stephen Bannon

Steve Bannon could be joining the likes of Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman at the glittering venues of the Venice Film Festival.

Donald Trump's campaign manager and former top aide is the subject of the Errol Morris documentary American Dharma, one of the most intriguing nonfiction titles revealed Wednesday as the Venice lineup was announced.

Little is known about the film at this point, beyond Bannon's participation, but it appears to fit neatly into the Morris canon, which includes documentaries on controversial political figures like former defense secretaries Robert McNamara (The Fog of War) and Donald Rumsfeld (The Unknown Known).

Morris' friend and fellow Cambridge, Mass. resident Frederick Wiseman will also be heading to Venice with new work. His documentary Monrovia, Indiana marks approximately the 43rd feature length documentary of Wiseman's incredible career, which began with Titicut Follies in 1967. Like many of Wiseman's films, Monrovia boasts an impressive running time of 223 minutes.

Director Frederick Wiseman at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, where he gave a master class in documentary film. August 25, 2016. Photo by Matt Carey

Director Errol Morris participates in an IDA Conversation event at The Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles. November 13, 2017. Photo by Matt Carey

Monrovia, Indiana is a small town (population roughly 1,063) outside of Indianapolis. If his latest film tracks with Wiseman's earlier work, the documentary will focus on institutions and civic life in the Midwestern community.

Another cinematic legend -- Orson Welles -- is the subject of Morgan Neville's documentary They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, which originally was slated to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Netflix pulled all of its titles from Cannes, including Neville's doc, in a dispute between the streaming giant and that festival's organizers.

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead focuses on Welles' uncompleted movie The Other Side of the Wind, which also will screen at Venice (like the documentary, the Welles film was pulled from Cannes).

Neville, an Academy Award winner for 20 Feet From Stardom, is enjoying huge success this summer with his documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? about children's television pioneer Fred Rogers. That film has made more than $18 mil. at the box office to date.

Director Morgan Neville at the Sundance Film Festival for the world premiere of "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Next to him is Sundance programmer Caroline Libresco. Park City, Utah, January 19, 2018. Photo by Matt Carey

​
The Venice Film Festival runs from August 29-September 8. These are the documentaries on the program, as announced in Rome on Wednesday:
​

• A Letter to a Friend in Gaza, directed by Amos Gitai [34 min.]
• Aquarela, directed by Victor Kossakovsky [89 min.]
• El Pepe, Una Vida Suprema, directed by Emir Kusturica [74 min.]
• Process, directed by Sergei Loznitsa [125 min.]
• Carmine Street Guitars, directed by Ron Mann [80 min.]
• ISIS, Tomorrow. The Lost Souls of Mosul, directed by Francesca Mannocchi, Alessia Romenzi [80 min.]
• American Dharma, directed by Errol Morris [95 min.]
• Introduzione All'Oscuro, directed by Gaston Solnicki [71 min.]
• 1938 Diversi, directed by Giorgio Treves [62 min.]
• Ni De Lian (Your Face), directed by Tsai Ming-liang [76 min.]
• Monrovia, Indiana, directed by Frederick Wiseman [223 min.]
• They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, directed by Morgan Neville [98 min.]