"About the Infinite" among the favorites in Venice

The Joker was hailed

Joker by director Todd Philips received long standing ovations after the screening and has been hailed for both Joaquin Phoenix's acting and director's flashes for Scorsese's 70s films Taxi Driver and King of comedy.

Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat is something as flippant as a comedy about the scandal surrounding the Panama Papers with Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman in the lead roles. The film is one of two in the competition behind the streaming service Netflix.

The second is Noa Baumbach's divorce drama Marriage story, which was inspired by the Oscar-winning Kramer against Kramer from 1979. Heavy and sad about love with Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Baumbach Academy Award nominee for the debut of The squid and the whale 2005.

Award-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda's drama The Truth is another favorite. He got the Gold Palm at Cannes last year for the film. Shoplifters. Now he makes his first film that takes place outside his home country, the film takes place in France and has Juliette Binoche and Catherine Deneuve in the roles, among others.

The Swedish chances then? Swedish big star Stellan Skarsgård is with the competition section and can be rewarded in the actor section. He plays in Czech director Václav Marhoul's film The Painted Bird, which is about a lone Jewish boy trying to avoid being captured by the Nazis during World War II.

It also looks good for Roy Andersson's About the Infinite. The International Critics' Corps calls it "short, bitter and exquisitely composed" and "odd and unlike everything else in the competition". If it becomes yet another prize for the Swedish filmmaker, he becomes the fifth director in history with double Gold Lion at home on the shelf.