Paolo Sorrentino's new film to open Venice Film Festival in August

In a statement, the festival's director, Alberto Barbera, expressed his pleasure at the possibility of having a new work by Sorrentino at the opening and recalled that the director made his feature film debut in 2001 with 'L'uomo in più', also in Venice.

"Paolo Sorrentino's return to competition comes with a film destined to leave its mark through great originality and powerful relevance for the present time," added Barbera.

'La Grazia' is written and directed by Sorrentino, with Toni Servillo as the protagonist.

Described as "a love story set in Italy", the film saw global distribution rights acquired by platform Mubi in February.

Born in Naples in 1970, Sorrentino's work has won awards at major international festivals, as well as winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014 for 'The Great Beauty'.

This year's Venice festival takes place between August 27th and September 6th.

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