With a stellar line-up of films, this year's 80th edition looks like it's going to be one for the books...
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00:00 The Venice Film Festival kicks off in just over a week's time and there's a huge cloud hanging over what is its 80th edition.
00:07 That is the Hollywood Actors' Strike, of course, but with me now in the studio to talk about what we can look forward to is my colleague David Morricone.
00:15 David, as I mentioned there in the introduction, the Hollywood Actors' Strike, this is the first real big test of the film industry since people started going on the picket lines.
00:26 What can we look forward to?
00:28 It's a very good question, especially because Venice is the opening of the Fall Festival and they did not expect this.
00:36 They did not expect the writers' strike and the actors to join the writers in what is the first in over 60 years.
00:43 So basically we thought that the programme is going to be absolutely void of any big American productions and the president of the Mostra basically said,
00:59 "Right, well, we may have to work on a plan B, a more European-centric festival."
01:04 But that has not actually turned out to be the case in the end.
01:08 The impact has been rather modest. The only kind of major casualty was the opening film, Luca Guadagnino's Challengers with Zendaya.
01:16 That has had to drop off, but the rest of the programme is actually pretty much unscathed.
01:24 We have some Netflix productions, some major American names like David Fincher, Michael Mann, for instance, Sofia Coppola.
01:32 And yes, it is very diverse and there is a huge European contingent as well, but no more than other years.
01:40 So it seems like the biggest impact will be on the red carpet and they just don't know who will show up.
01:46 But it's the red carpet which grabs so much the glamour and the glitz as we often talk about here.
01:51 That's the thing which attracts the headlines.
01:53 So could the absence of the Hollywood actors and the famous directors be to perhaps Europe's advantage?
01:59 Quite possibly, and it will potentially give a little bit more spotlight to European productions and to other ones.
02:06 Because Venice is known as the Oscars launchpad.
02:09 It has been for many, many years, whether it's The Shape of Water, No Man's Land, Joker, they all premiered in Venice.
02:16 And the thing is, this year it is just a little bit of a thorn in their side, because to launch these Oscar campaigns, these award campaigns,
02:24 you need the red carpets, you need the stars there, you need the interviews.
02:29 And without that, that doesn't stop them from launching an awards campaign.
02:34 But the highlight might just be on some films which might ordinarily go by the wayside.
02:39 So that can only be a good thing for European productions.
02:42 But there is going to be some guaranteed news copy, certainly for the likes of us,
02:46 because of the controversial selection of quite a few directors who have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
02:52 Absolutely. So most of them out of competition.
02:55 But when the lineup announcement was made, I was there, I was listening in.
03:01 And Roman Polanski. Ah, interesting.
03:04 Not entirely surprising, because he had been there in 2019 for An Officer and a Gentleman.
03:10 But his new film, Palace, is going to be there.
03:13 Then came the announcement out of competition as well that Woody Allen's new film, Coup de Chance, which is his first film in French,
03:21 will be there as well. Both directors with a heavy past.
03:26 We don't have the time to go into it, but, yeah, headline grabbing for all the wrong reasons.
03:31 And then in competition there's also Luc Bissell, who has had sexual scandal allegations made against him.
03:39 And, yes, he's been cleared. But at the same time, it's strange what message that sends.
03:46 Maybe those slots could have been filled by other filmmakers, maybe less controversial filmmakers.
03:53 But the Venice Film Festival has never shied away from essentially just saying, right, we want to separate the art from the artist and so on and so forth.
04:00 It's an ongoing discussion. In fact, cheeky plug, it's because it's one that we actually added on Euronews Culture in one of our best books,
04:09 a book called Monsters, A Fan's Dilemma by Claire D'Edera.
04:13 And it addresses these things. It addresses the current kind of conversation surrounding these problematic artists.
04:21 What does it mean to be a monster? And there could not be a more topical book at the moment, specifically with regards to the Venice lineup.
04:27 Indeed. Another huge topical issue is closely related to what you've just been talking about, then, is diversity, the role of women.
04:36 We've seen so many festivals making a real concerted stance to try to get parity in terms of nominations, in terms of the films which are showing.
04:46 Is Venice going to be an exception? Maybe not an exception, but it's certainly not top of the class.
04:53 Keeping to Europe, the top three European festivals, Berlin, Cannes and Venice, Berlin has always been ahead of the curve.
05:02 And they are nearing that 50/50 by 2020 parity that they've been drumming on for so long.
05:08 And here this year, out of the 23 films in competition, only five are directed by women.
05:14 So they are falling behind. Alberto Barbera said it was an ongoing process. It's always the same kind of excuses.
05:22 And unfortunately, they are lagging behind. Now, with regards to diversity, they have done rather well.
05:28 There's 82 feature films in total this year at the festival, and they represent 54 countries.
05:33 So it is a very diverse selection. But with regards to gender parity, yet again, the Venice Film Festival has fallen short there.
05:42 OK. So, yeah, tell us more, because a lot of people I've been speaking to have been saying, you know, Venice, what's it really like underground?
05:49 And especially because it's such a particular town city in itself.
05:53 So much so much in the headlines recently, just saying it actually doesn't want people actually going there.
05:58 Tourism, vital for for Italy as well as for that city, of course.
06:03 So what sort of reception are you expecting? I mean, I'm hoping not booze.
06:07 I mean, it's like, no, don't come here. But no, it's a very interesting question,
06:12 because at the same time, we all know that this is a potentially endangered city.
06:17 I mean, UNESCO have recently said that they want to put it on the endangered list of cities.
06:21 And they narrowly avoided that. I think it was two years ago to be put on that list.
06:26 And the city and the council have been making efforts.
06:29 I mean, those huge cruise ships are no longer allowed to go by the center to mine the ecosystem and so on and so forth.
06:36 There's but it has to be said, mass tourism, the rising sea levels due to climate change, all the linked.
06:42 And, yes, it's tourists have to be on their best behavior.
06:45 There are more rules around the lights, for example, going to the beach and the entrance fee that the Venice City Council was trying to introduce this year has been pushed back to next year.
06:58 This aim so that tourists who come to Venice who don't stay the night have to pay this entrance fee.
07:05 I'll be there for a little over 10 days. And the festival itself takes place on the Lido Island, not in central Venice.
07:13 So the thing is, is that it has to be said to all the film critics and the journalists are quite concentrated on an island outside of Venice.
07:20 So that's our excuse. Your reputation procedure. But I mean, you know, they essentially just go, you stay over there while we deal with the tourists over here.
07:30 But it is a growing concern and and one that continues to be addressed.
07:35 And they have put measures in place. However, unfortunately, as you said, there is a financial concern, an economic concern.
07:42 Because whether it's the Biennale or the Mostra, these are the events that attract the world press.
07:48 Indeed. So, you know, let's let's round up. You've mentioned some of the selections that are going to be some of the controversial directors, at least their showings or screenings are going to be there.
07:58 What are you most looking forward to? Oh, tokes. How long have you got?
08:01 I mean, it's I've got the list here. I mean, just sticking to competition is an embarrassment of riches this year.
08:08 Genuinely. I mean, and it's especially impressive with regards to the rise of strikes because we didn't expect to be spoiled like this.
08:15 I mean, there's Bradley Cooper's maestro, which is definitely one that's an early kind of awards contender.
08:21 So if you could put his Priscilla, which looks at Priscilla Presley's early life with Elvis, especially when she met him in Berlin while he was doing his his military service.
08:32 And also David Fincher, who is back with a film called The Killer with Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton.
08:39 We don't know much about it, but by God, I mean, you know, it's Fincher.
08:44 I mean, for me personally, it's horror. Now, there's real life and the genre, because the genre is quite underrepresented in major film festivals.
08:55 And this year they've actually done us proud. So in real life horror, there's going to be several documentaries, which are on my list.
09:03 Ava DuVernay's Origin, which is all about systemic racism in the US, specifically in caste systems and how the system is designed so that the cast don't move and stay as sclerosed as possible.
09:18 There's also one by Agnieszka Holland called The Green Border, which essentially explores the migration in Poland.
09:28 And then with regards to horror as a genre, there's Jorge Slantimosa's Poor Things with Emma Stone, which is a retelling of Frankenstein from a female perspective.
09:37 Well, female perspective, the monster is female and she escapes the clutches of her maker.
09:43 And what else have we got? Oh, Pablo Lorrain, the Chilean filmmaker. This one's an interesting one. It's kind of a Gothic approach to horror.
09:49 He imagines in this film El Conde, a kind of a vampire myth where Pinochet comes back to life and starts metaphorically and literally sucking blood.
10:00 So as an allegory and as a critique of a country who hasn't necessarily always dealt with the past, that could be very, very interesting.
10:09 The other ones I want to flag up are outside of competition. There's Frederick Wiseman, the 93 year old filmmaker who's been coming to Venice quite a lot with his documentaries.
10:20 And they are always mesmerizing. There was one in particular called Ex Libris, which was an absolute treat to watch.
10:27 I mean, it was nearly six hours, but they just flew by. Here he's coming back with Menu Plaisir, Les Trois Gros, a film set in France in the Trois Gros restaurant.
10:37 And he essentially will navigate the the the corridors of this restaurant, the kitchens, and just see this kind of ecosystem basically within there.
10:48 And it looks like it's going to be very interesting. And of course, I'd be remiss to say the final film of William Freak and who sadly left us.
10:57 It's called The Caine Mutiny, Court Martial. It's adapted from the play of the same name.
11:02 And it starts, it stars Kiefer Sutherland. And it's a real shame because he was supposed to be with us and there was supposed to be and there probably will be in Venice a 50 year anniversary print of The Exorcist, which will be shown.
11:15 And it would have been wonderful to have the director there who I had the pleasure of meeting in Venice.
11:21 I think it was 2017. And yeah, that will that will be a nice way to kind of honor his memory.
11:28 Very fitting, fitting tribute. Absolutely. Let's hope so on this 80th edition.
11:32 Well, David Morricone, we're looking forward to receiving regular postcards from you from the Lido.
11:37 So thank you for now. Thank you very much, Towings.
11:39 Thanks for watching.
11:40 Thanks.
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