Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has wreaked havoc across the globe, we’ve seen damn near every film festival from this spring and summer canceled, or at least, drastically altered. However, according to Venice Film Festival director, Alberto Barbera, this year’s Italian film event will be the first one since the pandemic shut everything down to closely adhere to the structure of previous editions.
Speaking to Variety, Barbera outlined what the 2020 Venice Film Festival will look like and how the slightly smaller event will support physical screenings, in-person events featuring cast and filmmakers, and a socially distant red carpet.
“The program of roughly 55 films will not be so different from the usual program,” he explained. “It will be an extraordinary edition and certainly a smaller one — and one with exceptionally strong security measures — but also an edition that will adhere to Venice’s usual daily program and its collective rites, such as the red carpet and press conferences, like we’ve always done.”
According to reports, Venice 2020 will feature the regular competition, as well as the Horizons section and the Out-of-competition picks. The Venice Classics section will be moved outside of the city, to a whole different venue, and the Virtual Reality section will be exclusively online. Other sections will likely be canceled, due to the slimmer line-up.
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But it’s really the physical aspect of this year’s Venice that has people intrigued. Will Barbera and the rest of the organizers really have talent on the red carpet and people in the screenings? He sure thinks so, and Barbera believes that the American filmmakers and actors will likely be able to show up once travel restrictions are relaxed.
“I am optimistic about the possibility that most people will be able to come,” Barbera explained. “If they can’t, or they don’t feel up to it, we will offer ways of promoting their films using online technologies. But, I repeat, the bulk of the films will be coming to Venice with a physical presence of talent.”
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One big difference between this year and previous editions of the Venice Film Festival is the lack of Netflix films and a reduction in big studio productions. Barbera insists that there will be some Hollywood films showcased at the event, but it’s likely that the number will be lower than in previous years.
And as for female representation, the festival director vowed that this year will be a banner year for women filmmakers in Venice, as opposed to previous editions where the festival was criticized for its lack of inclusivity.
“You will all be surprised this year,” he said. “We really have lots of films directed by women. Not because we changed our selection criteria…But because we received lots of films directed by women that are of really great quality — better than the films by their male colleagues. So this year, the female presence will be extremely substantial. To an extent, that will end all the polemics of past years.”
The reduced lineup for this year’s Venice will be announced on July 28. And the event is scheduled to begin on September 2.