It was announced today that Damien Chazelle will open this year's Venice Film Festival with the world premiere of First Man, his story of Ohio-native and University of Cincinnati professor Neil Armstrong's journey to walk on the moon in 1969. This is the sequel to his acclaimed La La Land, and like it stars Ryan Gosling.
The movie, which has an Oct. 12 release date, also stars Jason Clarke, Claire Foy, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Ciaran Hinds, Christopher Abbott, Patrick Fugit, and Lukas Haas. It was written by Josh Singer from a book by James R. Hansen.
Armstrong, who died in Cincinnati in 2012, taught at University of Cincinnati's Department of Aerospace Engineering after resigning from NASA in 1971.
In 2016, he was honored with an ArtWorks mural created by Brazilian artist Kobra.
The Venice selections have also received criticism for their lack of women directors, as reported in Indiewire.
