[ad_1]
Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera seems relaxed enough after announcing what, on paper, looks like one of the strongest Lido lineups in recent memory. There is of course an underlying fear that the Delta variant could spoil the party, but he doesn’t seem too worried.
Barbera spoke to Variety on the lower number of female directors competing this year and the fact that Hollywood is back in full force – alongside Netflix.
Last year there were eight female-directed films in competition, this year there are five. What happened?
We are talking about small variations [in numbers] it can happen even purely by chance. Two years ago there were two [women directors in competition]. Last year they were eight. This year there are five. Overall, if you look at the total number of submissions, the percentage of films by female directors last year was around 28%; this year, it’s 26%; two years ago it was 25%. We can of course consider this year as a small setback. I think this was probably caused by the fact that the pandemic impacted the production of films directed by women more than those directed by men. But I am convinced that this is a momentary mistake because I think the momentum towards greater gender balance is unstoppable.
You mentioned in the press conference that, thematically, women dominate.
Yes. If I must retain a dominant theme this year in Venice, it is the condition of women, and not only in films directed by women, but also in those directed by men who know well not only that there is a problem, but that women today occupy an increasingly predominant place [in society] – assume roles that were once the prerogative of a man. There are a lot of films with women at their center this year in Venice and at least two on the topic of violence against women. Two films that I think will be part of the contemporary conversation around the #MeToo movement and, in particular, on trials. One is “Les Choses Humans” by Yvan Attal, the story of a trial where it is necessary to decide whether there is blatant violence, or if, on the contrary, a woman has not expressed strongly enough her lack of consent to a sexual act. And then there is Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” which transposes a similar situation to the Middle Ages.
You have titles from Warner Bros., Disney, and Universal. Was it difficult to bring the studios back?
Not really. Until recently, Americans were all locked in, which was much more rigid than what European productions had to contend with. In Europe, film production continued, as did some festivals when possible. The Americans closed their doors for a year; the films have not been released; talent and directors were prevented from attending festivals, even when they wanted to. I can tell you that last year several American directors tried to bring a studio or Netflix to Venice. It was impossible. But now almost all Americans are vaccinated and they can’t wait to reboot, which means promoting and releasing movies. What better opportunity to do so than Venice 2021 in September? Venice is attractive. It’s at the start of the new season; it is a proven launch pad. We put on Oscar films every year, and often they’ve won. So we met halfway, with great interest and a guarantee that Venice would take place under conditions of protection and security and the majors jumped at the chance. It wasn’t that complicated.
What is the health security situation?
It hasn’t improved tremendously, as we all hoped. But I am convinced that we can organize the festival safely, as we did last year, but with more talent, participants, spectators. And with more user-friendly controls. In the worst case, it will be like last year in terms of 50% capacity in screening rooms, but with more people and talent and a much greater opportunity to promote the films.
Netflix is offering three films this year: “The Power of the Dog” by Jane Campion, “The Hand of God” by Paolo Sorrentino, both in competition, and “7 Prisoners” by Brazilian Alexandre Moratto in Horizons Extra. Do you know if they will be released in theaters?
I’ve heard that by contract Sorrentino is to get a theatrical release and I think Jane Campion will as well, although I have no idea how the Window will work. I think only Netflix knows that. But I think for these two films, a theatrical release is a certainty.
Guillermo Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” was supposed to go to Venice. What happened?
Guillermo wanted to return to Venice after “The Shape of Water” [which won the 2017 Golden Lion] and having been president of the jury the following year. He was literally running against the clock to get the movie done on time. Until a week ago, he was still hoping to do this, although Searchlight had already realized it was impossible, as they still have to record some of the music and do other post-production work.
To what extent has the proximity to Cannes and Toronto impacted the selection of Venice?
At first, the closer proximity to Cannes in July worried me a little. But that concern evaporated pretty quickly when I realized there were a lot more movies available than expected due to the pandemic. And that their level of quality was so high. We see the same films as in Cannes, but it was a serene selection, no more competitive than in the past. As for Toronto, they went through months of greater uncertainty than we have. At first, they seemed destined to have a mostly virtual edition, just like last year. Now luckily things are improving a bit so I think they can have a stronger edition in terms of in-person participation. Toronto has announced its gala screenings, but will announce the full schedule in early August, likely because they are waiting to figure out exactly what the situation will be. So for that reason there was no problem with Toronto.
Venice is not just a marketing tool for great films. Tell me about this year’s discoveries
We have 21 films in the main competition, including 10 from directors who have never been in competition – not only in Venice, but also in other major festivals. This means that we have bet on directors that we find interesting, worthy of being elevated to the rank of main competition. We also did this to prove that Venice is not just a showcase for obvious high-profile Hollywood or European titles, but rather continues to be a festival of authors and discovery and to help give visibility to cinema from lesser-known regions.
My goal is to work with contemporary cinema from a 360-degree perspective without forgetting any of its components: great, high-quality, spectacular films from American studios; auteur cinema in the classic sense of the term; but also films from emerging cinematographies by directors who have not yet emerged and who seek to be consecrated by a major festival. We have proven that we are capable of promoting these films. The distinguishing feature of Venice in recent years is the attempt to hold together all these different “souls” which on their own could generate three or four different festivals, depending on which aspect you want to give more prominence. But I think that a major event should try to show the condition of cinema today in its diversity and its multiplicity of approaches. We know that there are different audiences to which we offer different types of films. This is what we do.
The Venice Film Festival runs from September 1 to 11.
[ad_2]
Source link