The Venice Film Festival is, as of now, still expected to begin on September 2 in Italy. Of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic still causing all sorts of issues around the world, many have wondered if the event would eventually need to be canceled. Well, it appears that Venice director Alberto Barbera is wondering the same thing, as he has written a letter that has been sent out to a number of industry professionals, gauging their interest in attending the physical event if it were to move forward.
“We know that it would be simply impossible to plan a festival without knowing if you all are willing to use the Festival to give a new start and a strong sign for keeping cinema alive, even in these difficult times,” Barbera’s letter said (via Variety).
In addition to finding out what films and producers might be interested in attending, the letter also asked folks about “the concrete possibility of bringing (talent) to accompany the invited films.”
The letter added, “We all know that, most probably, any festival will not be able to take place exactly like it was in the past. We will have to deal with a number of limitations and security measures: reduction of the number of screened films and a similar decrease of attendance from press, industry and audience.”
Despite the letter’s seemingly unsure tone and content, Barbera and the rest of the Venice Film Festival organizers have been steadfast in their insistence that the event will continue in September. The festival director also previously said that even if Italy is not ready to open cinemas to the general public that the Venice Film Festival would try to get special accommodations to allow for the event to hold screenings in person.
All this in an attempt to avoid a “digital” festival, such as what happened with SXSW and Tribeca, where industry professionals and the press were allowed to screen films online in lieu of public screenings. That being said, as the letter indicates, Barbera isn’t avoiding a digital aspect of Venice.
Barbera also wrote industry folks asking if they would “consider useful and/or necessary to (have access to) streaming, interactive Q&A sessions with filmmakers, online industry and market transactions for instance — to partially replace or increase live events, such as press screenings and conferences, meetings and panels.”
It’s unclear how much of an effect this survey might have on the future of this year’s Venice Film Festival. Obviously, if no one is willing to attend in person, there’s no way that Barbera can hold the physical event. But if that’s the case, will Venice go the online route or just fully cancel? We’ll have to wait and see.
