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July 6 (UPI) -- Luca Guadagnino's Challengers -- starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist -- is set to have its world premiere as the opening selection of the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 30. The festival is to run through Sept. 9.
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"Luca Guadagnino is one of the few Italian directors who has always been accustomed to working with both Italian and foreign actresses and actors, getting top results from all of them each time," the festival's director Alberto Barbera said in a statement Thursday.
"Even when he is filming abroad as is the case with Challengers. With a light hand and sporting self-confidence, Guadagnino sets no limits to his creative energy in this film as he deals with topics such as love, friendship, and male rivalry, and brings to life an enthralling and affecting movie, full of irony, sensuality, and good nature. Cinema in its purest form."
The film stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach caught in a love triangle between her husband (Faist) and her ex-boyfriend (O'Connor.)
Its soundtrack features music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Guadagnino is known for his films Bones and All and Call Me by Your Name.
