The Venice Classics section aims to present the audience of the Venice International Film Festival with a selection of the finest restorations of classic films carried out over the past year, encouraging the discovery or rediscovery of works that belong to the history of cinema, in the best possible conditions of image and sound. The section may be completed with a selection of documentaries on cinema and on individual authors and movements of yesteryear or today.
Only restorations of films that had their first public screening between 1930 and 1995 are eligible for selection.
Only restorations completed after September 7, 2024, that have not been publicly screened, under any circumstances (festivals, theatres, etc.) or made available online, on TV, VOD, SVOD, DVD/Blu-ray, including in their countries of origin, will be considered.
The same principle applies to documentaries on cinema: only films longer than 60 minutes, completed after September 7, 2024, and never publicly screened (festivals, theatres, etc.) or made available online, on television, VOD, SVOD, DVD/Blu-ray, including in their countries of origin, are eligible.
Proposals for restored films must be submitted no later than May 5, 2025.
To submit a restored film for selection, please contact the appropriate office, at the following email address: veniceclassics@labiennale.org. You will be sent a link for registration, which must be completed by May 5.
For documentaries on cinema, please refer to the Festival’s general regulations and fill out the feature film submission form available there, specifying "documentary on cinema" in the genre field.
Invitations are issued at the sole discretion of the Festival Director. Once an invitation is accepted, the film cannot be withdrawn from the Festival programme.
All films must be presented in their original version with Italian subtitles onscreen. Italian films must have English subtitles onscreen. All subtitling costs are to be paid by those submitting the film. For films spoken in a language other than Italian or English, provided they have Italian subtitles on the copy, the Festival will provide digital English subtitles, on condition that the film presenter supplies the English dialogue list.
A complete documentation for each film invited to Venice Classics (synopsis, cast & credits, director's biography, restoration notes, critical note or director’s statement on the film, stills) must be promptly provided to the Festival offices upon request.
All films invited in Venice Classics must include the official logo of the Festival: documentaries will use the “Official Selection” logo of the 82nd edition of the Festival, whereas restored films must include the specific "Venice Classics" logo.
The Artistic Director of the Venice International Film Festival reserves the right to adjudicate any cases not covered by the Regulations herein.
