Our international staff, who cover the Venice Film Festival every year, always told me that when you first met festival director Alberto Barbera, you felt like you were with an old friend. They were right.
When we met in Cannes in May, I told Barbera how Deadline was expanding its international presence, but I had never been to Venice. I always went to the Toronto Film Festival because there were buy deals that had to be broken and the dates were more in line with my kids going back to school, and who would want to miss that? They’re all old now and Barbera asked me to try Venice. I’ve definitely noticed that your festival has become the busiest of the season, with more movies than its fair share of Oscar talk each year.
Of course I said I’d come… If only Barbera had jumped on the boat with me and showed Deadline readers why the combination of a unique city and progressive management has made the oldest film festival such a modern rendezvous. We can relax under its famous canals and low bridges for visual appeal, while Barbera wowed us with stories of Venetian warfare, past and present. He said yes and this is the result. While the festival is in full swing, it will be presented in five short episodes every day.
Let Barbera and her colleagues show Hollywood why Venice can make a difference during awards season, as Barbera recounts everything the studio has given him the chance with the blockbuster; She was upset when Stanley Kubrick finally arrived and saw that he had just died; How Barbera has maintained friendly relations with its main rivals at festivals in Cannes, Toronto, Telluride and New York, despite fierce competition to show the season’s best films; How Harvey Weinstein’s Death Changed Sexual Crimes; and the need to embrace the inevitable clash between art and politics, as the festival will do this year to support imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Panahi and Ukrainian filmmakers who are resisting the devastating Russian invasion.
There’s also the disappointment of Steven Spielberg’s rejection of this year’s festival and the warning that the pizza at Venice’s Hotel Excelsior is better than La Pizza de la Croisette (we disagree).
Click above to see the first of a five-part interview.
Wednesday: This year’s squad
Source: Deadline
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
