Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard is now being widely mentioned as a likely entry in the Venice Film Festival competition for 2026, with reports saying the film was rejected by Cannes but picked up by Venice’s leadership. The drama, led by Rooney Mara and Kate Mara, has become one of the titles to watch as festival programmers finalize lineups.
On May 19, Screen Daily named Bucking Fastard among the stronger bets to land in Venice’s competition, while World of Reel published a parallel report the same day saying the film was rejected by Cannes and is now in the Venice competition — adding that festival boss Alberto Barbera had effectively accepted it. Those twin reports have pushed the Herzog picture toward the center of this year’s pre-festival conversation.
The concrete stakes are simple: if Bucking Fastard is included, it would be part of the Venice Film Festival program that runs from September 2 to September 12, 2026. For the filmmakers and the Mara sisters — Rooney Mara, the film’s lead, and her sister Kate Mara — inclusion would mean a high-profile autumn premiere in one of Europe’s oldest and most influential festivals rather than a redemptive run at Cannes.
That shift from one festival circuit to another is not unusual in the current festival ecosystem. World of Reel noted that roughly 30–40% of Venice competition titles were initially passed over by Cannes, meaning a Cannes rejection is often the opening, not the end, of a festival life for a film. Screen Daily’s coverage places Bucking Fastard alongside other potential Venice contenders such as The Basics Of Philosophy, A Long Winter, and Wild Horse Nine, signaling that programmers are assembling a broadly anticipated slate.
Still, the reports contain a friction point: Cannes’ rejection is a firm editorial decision, while Venice’s acceptance — as reported — rests on the account of a single site. World of Reel’s contention that Alberto Barbera has accepted the film gives the story force, but it is not the same as an official Venice program announcement. The timing complicates matters too: these stories circulated while Cannes was still taking place, and festival schedules and strategies often shift in real time as premieres move and deals close.
For Herzog, the question of where Bucking Fastard debuts matters artistically and commercially. A Venice competition slot would place the film in direct view of critics, buyers and awards-season strategists, and it would frame the Mara sisters’ performances within Venice’s particular prestige. For festival directors, the movement of films between Cannes and Venice reflects a practical reality: programmers assemble lineups from a shared pool of films, and a pass at one festival can become an opportunity at another.
Most immediately, audiences and industry watchers should expect an official Venice lineup announcement to settle the matter; if Bucking Fastard is named, the film will be scheduled between September 2 and September 12, 2026. Until Venice publishes its program, however, the balance of reporting points to a likely outcome: with Screen Daily calling it a strong bet and World of Reel saying Barbera has already signaled his approval, Bucking Fastard looks set to play Venice’s competition in 2026.
That conclusion alters the map for Herzog and his cast this year: a Cannes rejection no longer reads as a dead end but as the most recent turn in a familiar festival story — one that, in this case, appears headed to Venice in September.
