Movies Film Festivals Brad Pitt's Ad Astra, Joaquin Phoenix's Joker join 2019 Venice Film Festival lineup Timothée Chalamet's 'The King,' Kristen Stewart's 'Seberg,' and Steven Soderbergh's 'The Laundromat' (starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas) will also screen By Joey Nolfi Joey Nolfi Entertainment Weekly's Oscars expert, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' beat reporter, host of 'Quick Drag' Twitter Spaces, and cohost of 'EW's BINGE' podcast. Almost all of the drag content on this site is my fault (you're welcome). EW's editorial guidelines Published on July 25, 2019 08:50AM EDT The oldest film festival in the world is once again primed to launch budding Oscar contenders into the awards race. The 2019 Venice Film Festival announced its full slate of official selections on Thursday morning, setting the pre-Oscar stage with new entries from respected directors such as James Gray (the long-gestating Brad Pitt sci-fi drama Ad Astra), Noah Baumbach (Scarlett Johansson's marital drama Marriage Story), Todd Phillips (the Joaquin Phoenix-led comic book adaptation Joker), Jackie helmer Pablo Larrain (Ema), and Steven Soderbergh (Panama Papers comedy The Laundromat, starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas) — all of which will compete for the Golden Lion, the festival's top jury-awarded prize. Also heading to Venice's 76th edition as part of its competitive slate are Olivier Assayas' new film Wasp Network, and a new title from controversial filmmaker Roman Polanski — who fled the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl — titled J'accuse, about a French army captain imprisoned after he's wrongfully accused of treason. Only two female filmmakers have films in the 21-film Venice competition: Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth) and Haifaa Al-Mansour (The Perfect Candidate). Outside Venice's main competition, Timothée Chalamet will play England's King Henry V at the festival in David Michôd's historical drama The King ahead of its fall bow on Netflix, while Kristen Stewart's turn as iconic actress Jean Seberg in Benedict Andrews' Seberg will also make a fall festival stop at Venice. Paulo Sorrentino's Jude Law-led television series sequel to The Young Pope, titled The New Pope, is further set for a premiere at the event. Recently, Venice has proven to be a reliable foreteller of general Academy tastes, hosting screenings of Oscar-bound films like The Hurt Locker, Birdman, The Danish Girl, Jackie, La La Land, Arrival, The Shape of Water, The Favourite, First Man, A Star Is Born, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs among its internationally diverse slate. Last year, the Golden Lion was awarded to Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, which went on to win three Oscars on top of 10 total nominations — including one for Best Picture. The year before, Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water also bagged the Golden Lion en route to a Best Picture victory. Among the acting set, two of Venice's Best Actress champions have gone on to win the Academy Award since 2016: Emma Stone for La La Land and Olivia Colman for The Favourite. Elsewhere on the fall festival circuit, the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival announced its first round of Gala and Special Presentations Wednesday, including the aforementioned Marriage Story, Marielle Heller's Mister Rogers-themed drama A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Cynthia Erivo's Harriet Tubman biopic, and the Jennifer Lopez/Constance Wu stripper revenge story Hustlers, directed by Lorene Scafaria. The 2019 Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 28-Sept. 7. Ticketing information is available here. Read on for a full list of films playing as part of this year's Venice slate (via THR). 20th Century Fox; Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros; Netflix COMPETITION The Truth, Hirokazu Kore-eda The Perfect Candidate, Haifaa Al-Mansour About Endlessness, Roy Andersson Wasp Network, Olivier Assayas Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach Guest of Honour, Atom Egoyan Ad Astra, James Gray A Herdade, Tiago Guedes Gloria Mundi, Robert Guediguian Waiting for the Barbarians, Ciro Guerra Ema, Pablo Larrain Saturday Fiction, Lou Ye Martin Eden, Pietro Marcello La Mafia Non E Piu Quella Di Una Volta, Franco Maresco The Painted Bird, Vaclav Marhoul Il Sindaco del Rione Sanita, Mario Martone Babyteeth, Shannon Murphy Joker, Todd Phillips J'accuse, Roman Polanski The Laundromat, Steven Soderbergh No. 7 Cherry Lane, Yonfan OUT OF COMPETITION The Burnt Orange Heresy, Giuseppe Capotondi Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-Liang No One Left Behind, Guillermo Arriaga Electric Swan, Konstantina Kotzamani Irreversible- Inversion Integrale, Gaspar Noe ZeroZeroZero, Stefano Sollima The New Pope, Paolo Sorrentino Never Just a Dream: Stanley Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut, Matt Wells Seberg, Benedict Andrews Vivere, Francesca Archibugi Mosul, Matthew Michael Carnahan Adults in the Room, Costa-Gavras The King, David Michod Tutto Il Mio Folle Amore, Gabriele Salvatores OUT OF COMPETITION DOCUMENTARY Woman, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Anastasia Mikova Roger Waters Us + Them, Sean Evans, Roger Waters Citizen K, Alex Gibney I Diari di Angela – Noi Due Cineaste. Capitolo Secondo, Tervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi Citizen Rosi, Didi Gnocchi, Carolina Rosi The Kingmaker, Lauren Greenfield State Funeral, Sergei Loznitsa Collective, Alexander Nanau 45 Seconds of Laughter, Tim Robbins Il Pianeta In Mare, Andrea Segre SCONFINI Chiara Ferragni – Unposted, Elisa Amoruso Il Varco, Federico Ferrone, Michele Manzolini The Scarecrows, Nouri Bouzid Effetto Domino, Alessandro Rossetto HORIZONS COMPETITION Pelican Blood, Katrin Gebbe (Opening Film) Blanco en Blanco, Theo Court Mes Jours de Gloire, Antoine de Bary Nevia, Nunzia de Stefano Moffie, Oliver Hermanus Hava, Maryam, Ayesha, Sahraa Karimi Rialto, Peter Mackie Burns The Criminal Man, Dmitry Mamuliya Giants Being Lonely, Grear Patterson Revenir, Jessica Palud Verdict, Raymund Ribay Gutierrez Just 6.5, Saeed Roustaee Zumiriki, Oskar Alegria A Son, Mehdi M. Barsaoui Shadow of Water, Sasidharan Sanal Kumar Sole, Carlo Sironi Madre, Rodrigo Sorogoyen Ballon, Pema Tseden Atlantis, Valentyn Vasyanovych Related content: See Meryl Streep, Eddie Murphy, more in first-look photos from Toronto International Film Festival lineup Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Joker, more join 2019 Toronto Film Festival lineup 2019-2020 awards season calendar: Key dates for the Oscars, Grammys, more