Pietrangelo Buttafuoco is appointed president of the Venice Biennale Foundation

The Venice Biennale Foundation, which oversees the Venice International Film Festival, has named right-wing writer Pietrangelo Buttafuoco as its new president, according to several Italian media sources.

Buttafuoco will replace Roberto Cicutto after being appointed by Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano of Italy’s right-wing coalition government. He will take up the post when Cicutto’s run ends in March 2024.

The appointment must be confirmed by the Italian parliament, with the chamber’s culture committee and the Senate announcing their positions on November 14.

According to the Italian news agency Ansa, which first reported the news, Buttafuoco in his youth practiced similar far-right politics to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, but now espouses more traditionally conservative views and even writes for left-wing newspapers . He is considered an individual thinker.

The mayor of Rome and president of the ANICA cinema association, Francesco Rutelli, told ANSA that Buttafuoco was “never a banal intellectual” and “will certainly promote the richness and pluralism of one of the largest and oldest cultural institutions in the world .”

“Historically, the power of the Biennale has been a great instrument of freedom. I am sure that Buttafuoco, a free spirit, can go ahead with this and interpret it in the best possible way,” he added.

Cicutto has been in office since 2020, when he was appointed by the previous leftist government. Since Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia came to power, many cultural institutions have been placed under the leadership of people with more right-wing views.

Deadline has contacted the Venice Biennale Foundation for official confirmation.