After only two years of opening the Venice International Film Festival with ‘La La Land’, a Damien Chazelle‘s feature will once again open the 75th edition of the Festival directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by the Biennale di Venezia, which will take place from August 29 to September 8, 2018. ‘First Man’s world premiere will be screened on Wednesday August 29th, in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido di Venezia.
Universal Pictures’ ‘First Man’, starring Ryan Gosling, Jason Clarke and Claire Foy, will take part in the competition. The movie, written by Josh Singer, is the adaptation of the official biography entitled ‘First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong’, written by James R. Hansen and published in 2005, and it is a visceral, first-person account of the story of the American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon. In particular, it traces the years between 1961, when Amstrong was about to join NASA and 1969, when on July 20, he landed on the moon with the Apollo 11.
Chazelle commented: “I am humbled by Venice’s invitation and am thrilled to return. (…) I eagerly look forward to bringing the film to the festival.” While, Barbera declared: “It is a true privilege to present the world premiere of Damien Chazelle’s new, highly-awaited film. It is a very personal, original and compelling piece of work, wonderfully unexpected within the context of present day epic films, and a confirmation of the great talent of one of the most important contemporary directors of American cinema. Our gratitude goes to Universal Pictures for premiering First Man at the 75th Venice Film Festival.”