2023-09-07 13:41:41
Venice Film Festival: Hollywood strike may dim the glamour
Because of the months-long strike in Hollywood, the red carpet will be at the launch of the 80th Venice Film Festival this evening (Wednesday), devoid of stars and traditional dazzle, with an Italian film chosen for the opening show in the last hours to replace an American work.
The new beloved Hollywood star, Zendaya, was scheduled to open the festival with Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers”, but the historic protest movement paralyzing American cinema prevented that.
From left, actor Timothee Chalamet, director Denis Villeneuve and actress Zendaya at the screening of the second part of the movie “Dune” in Las Vegas last April (AFP)
Last month, Hollywood actors joined screenwriters in their social movement, calling for better wages and controls on the use of artificial intelligence. Their powerful union, SAG-AFTRA, forbids all of its members, even the most famous of them, not only to film any works during the strike, but also to participate in the promotion of films.
Also, the “Mostra”, the dean of international film festivals and the beloved event among Hollywood circles, which it uses as a platform to launch its work before the awards season, has become the first global meeting of the seventh art to pay the tax of this strike.
However, the director of the ancient Italian festival, Alberto Barbera, reassured in an interview with Agence France-Presse that “the impact of the strike will be very limited, because we have lost only one film from the official program of the event, which is the movie (Challengers).” He added, “We will, however, witness the passage of many stars on the red carpet.”
Director of the ancient Italian festival, Alberto Barbera (EPA)
The 80-year-old Michael Mann’s movie “Ferrari” will be one of the most prominent works shown in the competition. This work, a biography of the founder of the famous car brand, Enzo Ferrari, and the signature of the owner of the films “Heat” and “Colliteral”, benefits from an exception granted by the syndicate, which may allow its actors, Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, to come to Venice for the occasion. .
Also competing for the “Golden Lion” award, which was won last year by documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed), David Fincher and Sofia Coppola.
On Wednesday, his “Commandant” with Pierfrancesco Favino will be the first film to be shown at the Cinema Palace on the famous Lido Avenue at the Venice Festival. The work deals with a little-known station from World War II, during which an Italian submarine captain decided to rescue the crew of a Belgian boat shortly following it sank off the Portuguese coast of Madeira.
Final preparations for the Venice Festival in Italy (EPA)
The screening of William Friedkin’s latest film out of competition will undoubtedly be an emotional moment, weeks following the death of this director known especially for his movie “The Exorcist”.
But the list of works participating in the competition reflects above all the return to the screen of filmmakers who have been charged in sexual assault cases that they deny their authenticity.
Among them, Roman Polanski, 90, lives in Europe, safe from the American judiciary, from which he has been fleeing for more than 40 years following his conviction for rape.
And following he became persona non grata in Hollywood, this big name in the seventh art, “Rosemrez Baby” and “The Pianist”, witnessed a change in his status in France since the controversy surrounding his awarding the French Film Cesar Award for his movie “Jacuzze”.
French-Polish director Roman Polanski (archive – AFP)
He has become considered by a large part of those working in the profession as one of the symbols of impunity with regard to sexual violence, and he has remained out of sight.
However, the Venice Film Festival brings him back to the limelight, following his film “The Palace” was selected out of competition, a work starring Fanny Ardan and Mickey Rourke, whose scenes were filmed in Gstaad (Switzerland). But Polanski does not intend to come to Venice.
Woody Allen (87 years), in turn, faces an almost complete boycott of the cinema sector following accusations of sexual abuse of his adopted daughter, which he denies and no investigation has succeeded in revealing his truth.
Allen will present his fiftieth film, Coup de Chance, shot in Paris in the French language and featuring Le de Laage, Valerie Lemercier, Melville Bobo and Niels Schneider.
American director Woody Allen (archive – AFP)
The “Mostra” festival, whose jury will be chaired by director Damien Chazelle (La La Land), will witness the return of French director Luc Besson to competition with the movie “Dogman”.
The director of “Leon” and “The Fifth Element”, who has a checkered career, saw his legal file closed at the end of June, following the Court of Cassation definitively dropped the rape charges brought once morest him by actress Sand Van Roy.
And while issues of combating discrimination and sexual violence have seemed to advance in recent years in the world of cinema, following the “Me Too” movement, these symbolic choices of the festival have angered feminist activists. However, the head of the Venice Festival called for “a distinction between the human being and the artist” in approaching this issue.
In terms of gender equality, the official competition includes five female film directors compared to 19 men competing for the “Golden Lion” award, which will be awarded on September 9, an award won by female directors during the past three years.
Barbera acknowledged that there are “few” women’s films in the competition, and “of course we must fight to change things.”
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