Ryan Gosling's moon-landing-drama 'First Man' to open Venice Film Festival
Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle’s space drama stars Ryan Gosling as Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong
Space drama First Man, which looks at the mission of US astronaut Neil Armstrong to become the first man to walk on the moon, will open this year’s Venice Film Festival, organisers said.
Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle will again kick off the 11 days of red carpet premieres and parties in the picturesque Italian city this summer, two years after his critically acclaimed musical La La Land opened the 2016 edition of the world’s oldest film festival.
Chazelle reunites with his La La Land lead actor Ryan Gosling, who portrays Armstrong, for the movie, which also stars The Crown actress Claire Foy.
Based on the book by James R. Hansen, First Man follows Armstrong from 1961 to 1969 as Nasa worked to land a man on the moon.
Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, famously saying: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
“It is a very personal, original and compelling piece of work,” festival director Alberto Barbera said.
