VENICE IS ON, FOR NOW: A day following the Cannes Film Festival announced a report on the year’s arrangement, organizers of the Venice Film Festival stated for now, the event is scheduled to run Sept. two to 12. Having a caveat.
A spokesperson told WWD a last decision is going to be delivered in the end of May. “We have to use common sense. The problem is dramatic and we’re tracking it, but no other choice was taken. Anything we say today might be refuted the following moment. There may not be any clarity and the dates are still far off.”
Italy was hard-hit from the coronavirus pandemic, reporting 21,645 deaths and 165,155 infected patients at April 15. The nation was in lockdown because March 9 and the authorities is expected to slowly lift it on May 4.
The authorities is still assessing how to offer security in cinemas, theatres and stadiums, with speculation mounting that they might not reopen by the end of the calendar year, or only a restricted amount of guests will have the ability to input various time slots.
A digital-only festival in Venice is excluded, the spokesperson underscored. “Technology will help on little initiatives, but it can’t replace the festival.”
Director Alberto Barbera is “receiving and viewing films at the same pace as past years,” said the spokesperson, adding that, while movie production has been halted for two months by the pandemic, films intended for Venice have long been completed, or they would not make it in time for the festival.
As reported, the Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to take place from May 12 to 23, with US. director Spike Lee heading precisely the jury. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, organizers initially proposed moving the event to late June and early July instead. That option has fallen through after French President Emmanuel Macron stated France would begin lifting confinement measures on May 11, but continue to ban large public gatherings until mid-July.
The opening of Venice’s international Architecture Biennale was moved from May 23 to Aug. 29. It will run until Nov. 29.
The Venice Film Festival is not only a marquee event for the film industry, but offers prime business, marketing and communication opportunities for different sectors. For example, Armani Beauty last year was the main sponsor of the event, running Aug. 28 to Sept. 7, becoming the official makeup provider for all the guests walking the red carpet.
With the backdrop of the Grand Canal and a host of A-list celebrities in attendance, the festival arguably produces some of the most glamorous red-carpet looks. Last year, it drew the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, Penélope Cruz, Jude Law and Brad Pitt, among others, to debut some of last fall’s most highly anticipated movies and TV shows, including “Joker,” “The King” and “The Young Pope.”
Last year, at this Belmond Hotel Cipriani, Iman received this Franca Sozzani Award in the palms of Valentino’s creative manager Pierpaolo Piccioli.
