For weeks now, a cloud has loomed over the Lido as the countdown to the Venice Film Festival – due to run from 30 August to 9 September – continues: namely, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes which have brought productions and promotional tours across the globe to a grinding halt as negotiations for a fair deal continue with stubborn producers and studio heads. Shortly after the industrial action began, the previously-announced opening film of the showcase’s 80th edition, Luca Guadagnino’s hotly anticipated Challengers, starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, was pulled and its release date moved to 2024. It fuelled rumours that a flurry of other Hollywood blockbusters could follow suit, transforming Venice, one of the industry’s most effective launchpads for Oscar contenders, into a “pan-European festival”.

But somehow, against the odds, the festival has defied its doubters, delivering a jam-packed and formidable line-up that combines European arthouse releases with big-budget awards hopefuls. There were some notable absences (many had hoped to see both Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon included) and a couple of head-scratchers (new films from Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Luc Besson), and questions remain as to how many stars will receive waivers allowing them to attend, but Venice will go on, largely unchanged from its previous iterations. However, the strike will, rightly, remain at the forefront of attendees’ minds.

Below, we shortlist the 10 films you need to look out for.

Priscilla

A year on from Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Sofia Coppola returns with an even more glamorous and dreamy-eyed biopic, with the spotlight this time on the titular wife (Cailee Spaeny) of the king of rock and roll (Jacob Elordi). Expect dazzling ’60s fashion and a heady dose of teen ennui.

Poor Things 

Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow-up to The Favourite sees him reunite with Emma Stone for this madcap, surreal sci-fi fantasy following a young woman who is brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist (Willem Dafoe) and embarks on an epic adventure across 19th-century Europe.

Ferrari

Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz playing Enzo and Laura Ferrari, the couple who built the luxury sports car empire that still bears their name? We’re sold. Michael Mann’s first film in almost a decade centres on their tempestuous marriage, as the former bets the future of their company on winning one race: Italy’s notoriously treacherous Mille Miglia.

Maestro

Yet another famous union is put under a microscope in Bradley Cooper’s first directorial effort since A Star is Born: that of Leonard Bernstein, played by Cooper himself, and the actor Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), with whom he spent nearly three decades while rising through the ranks to become one of the most prolific conductors and composers of his time.