Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
The Venice Film Festival is a famous movie festival in Italy. It happens every year in September.
This year, the festival starts on September 2, 2026. It will show many new movies for the first time.
The first movie of the festival is called "Ink." It is about a newspaper in England a long time ago. Actors Jack O'Connell and Guy Pearce are in the movie.
Actor Robert Pattinson is also in a new movie at the festival. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal will help choose the best movie of the festival.
- festival
- a special event with many shows or movies
- movie
- a story shown on a screen with pictures and sound
- actor
- a person who plays a character in a movie
- newspaper
- printed pages with news stories
- choose
- to pick one thing from many
- famous
- known by many people
- new
- not existing before, just made
- England
- a country in Europe
Level 2 - Elementary
The Venice Film Festival, one of the world's oldest and most respected film events, opens on September 2, 2026, on the island of Lido di Venezia in Italy.
This year's opening film is "Ink," directed by Danny Boyle. The movie stars Guy Pearce as media boss Rupert Murdoch and Jack O'Connell as newspaper editor Larry Lamb, telling the story of Murdoch's early takeover of a British newspaper.
Other new films premiering at the festival include a thriller from director Florian Zeller and a comedy from Martin McDonagh. Actor Robert Pattinson also stars in "Primetime," the first fiction film from documentary director Lance Oppenheim.
A jury led by actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal will judge the films in competition and choose the winners at the end of the festival, which runs through September 12.
- respected
- admired and thought well of by others
- island
- land completely surrounded by water
- direct
- to guide and control how a movie is made
- media
- television, newspapers, and other ways of sharing news
- takeover
- the act of gaining control of a company
- thriller
- a movie or book designed to be exciting and suspenseful
- premiere
- the first public showing of a movie
- jury
- a group of people who judge a competition
Level 3 - Intermediate
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival opens on September 2, 2026, at the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido di Venezia, continuing its status as one of cinema's most prestigious annual gatherings.
This year's opening film, Danny Boyle's "Ink," dramatizes Rupert Murdoch's early acquisition of The Sun newspaper, with Guy Pearce portraying the media mogul and Jack O'Connell playing editor Larry Lamb; the film will also screen in competition rather than purely as a ceremonial opener.
The wider lineup features a striking range of world premieres, including Florian Zeller's psychological thriller "Bunker," Martin McDonagh's black comedy "Wild Horse Nine," and veteran Italian director Nanni Moretti's romantic comedy "It Will Happen Tonight." Documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim will make his fiction debut with "Primetime," starring Robert Pattinson as television personality Chris Hansen.
Presiding over the competition jury is actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal, joined by filmmakers Kaouther Ben Hania and Daniel Blumberg among others, tasked with selecting the festival's top honors when it concludes on September 12.
- prestigious
- inspiring respect and admiration, highly regarded
- dramatize
- to present a real story as a dramatic performance
- acquisition
- the act of buying or gaining control of something
- mogul
- a wealthy and powerful business leader
- ceremonial
- relating to formal rituals or occasions rather than substance
- psychological thriller
- a suspenseful film focused on characters' mental and emotional states
- preside
- to be in charge of or oversee a meeting or event
- honors
- awards or recognitions given for achievement
Level 4 - Advanced
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival convenes on September 2, 2026, at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido di Venezia, reaffirming its standing as one of the preeminent showcases on the international festival calendar.
Danny Boyle's "Ink," which opens the festival and screens in competition rather than functioning as a purely ceremonial curtain-raiser, dramatizes Rupert Murdoch's early acquisition of The Sun, casting Guy Pearce as the media mogul opposite Jack O'Connell's editor Larry Lamb in an account of a pivotal chapter in British tabloid journalism.
The broader slate juxtaposes established auteurs with directors venturing into unfamiliar territory: Florian Zeller's psychological thriller "Bunker" and Martin McDonagh's black comedy "Wild Horse Nine" sit alongside Nanni Moretti's return to Venice with the romantic comedy "It Will Happen Tonight," while documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim makes an unexpected leap into fiction with "Primetime," starring Robert Pattinson as the television personality Chris Hansen.
Adjudicating the competition is a jury chaired by actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal, alongside filmmakers including Kaouther Ben Hania and Daniel Blumberg, whose deliberations will culminate in the festival's top honors when proceedings close on September 12.
- convene
- to come together for a formal meeting or event
- preeminent
- surpassing all others, most distinguished
- curtain-raiser
- an event that introduces or precedes a larger one
- pivotal
- of crucial importance in relation to future developments
- auteur
- a filmmaker whose personal influence is evident in their work
- juxtapose
- to place things side by side for contrast or comparison
- adjudicate
- to make an official decision about a dispute or competition
- deliberation
- careful discussion and consideration before making a decision
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