The five Venice titles I’m most curious to see

At the crack of dawn, I board a flight to Italy — so this time tomorrow, if all goes well, I’ll be writing to you from the water-riven city of Venice after having attended a festival screening of John Hillcoat’s “The Road.” It’s both my first visit to the city and my first taste of one of the major film festivals, so it should be an exciting few days all round.

Venice may lag slightly behind Cannes in terms of glamor and auteur attractions, but it’s arguably the European festival that feeds most into the awards season to come: as recent Cannes winners have remained largely arthouse-bound, Venice has birthed several crossover successes that went on to factor to varying degrees in the race: in recent years, “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Queen,” “Atonement” and “The Wrestler,” among others, saw their buzz begin on the Lido.

Whether such a hit awaits in the coming weeks remains to be seen, though the lower-key American contingent in this year’s lineup suggests it might be a year of more bijou successes. I received my press screening schedule a few days ago and am still puzzling over it: it’s a dense, dizzying document, with exotic unknown quantities outnumbering the bigger (possibly safer) draws. Risks will need to be taken; some titles will inevitably pass me by no matter how hard I try to keep up. Such is the nature of festivals.

With that in mind, then, here are a handful of titles that have risen to the upper reaches of my priority list, whether via sheer curiosity value or my faith in the talents involved. That’s right, no “The Road” or “Capitalism: A Love Story,” both of which I am certainly duty-bound to see — but don’t quite carry the same level of intrigue for me. Anyway, in no particular order:

“A SINGLE MAN”
Possibly the biggest wild card in the competition lineup, simply because we have no idea yet if imperious fashion lord Tom Ford has genuine directorial gifts up his immaculately tailored sleeve — or if we’re merely in for a stylish vanity project. In his favor are lofty source material by Christopher Isherwood and a solid cast (Julianne Moore, Colin Firth, Ginnifer Goodwin), while with “Mad Men” production designer Dan Bishop on board, the film should look as sharp as a Ford three-piece.

“WHITE MATERIAL”
I’ve already expressed my adoration of Claire Denis’s previous film, “35 Shots of Rhum,” which bowed on the Lido this time last year, so naturally I’m in the tank for this one. Even more enticingly, “White Material” returns Denis to the colonial-Africa milieu that she explored to such marvellous effect in “Beau Travail” and her debut “Chocolat.” With one of our greatest actresses, Isabelle Huppert, headlining this one (as a farmer resolutely standing her ground as the country is ravaged by rebellion), I see no reason not to be excited.

“LIFE DURING WARTIME”
The mere prospect of a new Todd Solondz film is enough to pique the curiosity all on its own; add an ensemble that includes Charlotte Rampling, Paul Reubens and Ally Sheedy, and I’m at the front of the queue. (Earlier rumors of Paris Hilton’s involvement didn’t pan out, presumably to prevent our heads exploding.) It’s been a while since Solondz delivered a work that was more than the sum of its very interesting ideas; however, the talk of this being a conceptual follow-up of sorts to “Happiness” (with a title that should apparently be taken literally) promises much.

“MR. NOBODY”
It’s been 13 long years since French-Belgian auteur (and one-time circus clown) Jaco van Dormael last delivered a feature, though “The Eighth Day” wasn’t quite up to the standard of his witty, inventive 1991 debut “Toto the Hero.” So it’s difficult to know what to expect from his comeback effort, which represents his first foray into both science-fiction and the English language. The concept is strong (a young man flits between parallel lives dependent on which parent he stayed with as a child), and the cast is eclectic, to say the least: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Rhys Ifans and Diane Kruger are on board.

“GREAT DIRECTORS”
I have a weakness for film-themed documentaries, and this one apparently offers exactly what it says on the tin: conversations with ten, well, great directors, from Bernardo Bertolucci to David Lynch, Catherine Breillat to Stephen Frears, Ken Loach to Agnes Varda. I like to think that the appeal of this one is pretty self-explanatory. Meanwhile, I’m even more stoked for a Thursday night dinner in honor of the film, with Richard Linklater, Todd Haynes and John Sayles (all among the ten) presiding.

Okay, Stansted Airport beckons. See you on the other side.