Charli XCX Starrer ‘100 Nights of Hero’ to Close Venice Critics’ Week

Scott Roxborough

Mon, July 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM UTC

2 min read

Venice Critics’ Week at the Venice Film Festival will run from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6, featuring an opening film called Stereo Girls and a closing film titled 100 Nights of Hero.
The competition lineup includes films such as Agon, Straight Circle, and Ish, exploring themes ranging from female athletes in fictional Olympics to the impact of a traumatic police stop and search incident on two boys.
The Venice main competition lineup, to be announced Tuesday, will be headed by two-time Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne as president of the jury, alongside other notable industry figures.

Venice Critics' Week, the sidebar section of the Venice Film Festival , unveiled its lineup Monday, revealing the opening and closing films as well as the seven-title competition.

The section runs Aug. 27-Sept. 6.

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Stereo Girls , a 1990s-set drama from Caroline Deruas Peano about the relationship of two 17-year-old girls, will open Venice Critics' Week, screening out of competition. Julia Jackman's 100 Nights of Hero , a "feminist fairy tale" starring Emma Corrin, Charli XCX, Maika Monroe, Nicholas Galitzine, Richard E. Grant, Amir El-Masry and Felicity Jones, will close the sidebar.

The 2025 competition lineup also includes Giulio Bertelli's Agon , a drama centered around female athletes competing in fictional Olympics; Straight Circle , a dark comedy centered on two soldiers in an isolated barracks, and the feature debut of music video director Oscar Hudson; and Ish from Imran Perretta, which explores the lasting impact of a traumatic incident, on two 12-year-old boys, of a police stop and search.

The Venice main competition lineup will be announced Tuesday. Two-time Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne ( The Holdovers , Sideways , Nebraska ) will head up its jury as president. He will be joined by Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof , French director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé ( At War ), Italian director and screenwriter Maura Delpero ( Vermiglio ), Palme d'Or winning Romanian director Cristian Mungiu ( 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ) and Chinese actress Zhao Tao ( Ash Is the Purest White )

Check out the full Venice Critics' Week program below.

Venice Critics' Week

Competition
Agon , Giulio Bertelli (Italy, U.S., France)
Cotton Queen , Suzannah Mirghani (Germany, France, Palestine, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
Gorgonà , Evi Kalogiropoulou (Greece, France)
Ish , Imran Perretta (U.K.)
Roqia , Yanis Koussim (Algeria, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
Straight Circle , Oscar Hudson (U.K.)
Waking Hours , Federico Cammarata, Filippo Foscarini (Italy)

Out of Competition
Opening Film: Stereo Girls , Caroline Deruas Peano (France, Canada)
Closing Film: 100 Nights of Hero , Julia Jackman (U.K.)

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