Of course, major movie festivals like Cannes, Venice, and Berlin have great cinema on offer. But they also rely on glamour and talent to promote these films. A festival sans these can become a little dull. But with the screen actors and television artists now on strike in Hollywood, festivals like Venice are in a dilemma. For, the strike forbids actors and artists from doing any promotional work, and this means they will not be able to participate in press conferences or photo sessions.
With Venice set to announce its full lineup on July 25 – which is less than a week from now – the Festival must be wondering how to cope with this huge hurdle. And for Venice, this will be a very important year; it will be its 80th-anniversary edition. And it remains unclear if the strike will be over before the festival begins on August 30.
Reportedly, some of the big Hollywood movies that may play in Venice are thinking of pulling out. However, there are some others who are willing to arrive on the Lido (an island off mainland Venice where the Festival is held) without their stars.
A good thing about Venice is that it is an event that focuses on Asian-European cinema, and these two continents are outside the strike. Also, American actors from independent cinema are also not covered by the strike, and this means that Venice may not suffer very much.
A Venice Film Festival insider told Screen: “We’re working on this one day at a time. Today the situation looks better than yesterday, and yesterday looked better than the day before. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that tomorrow will be even better, of course.” Anyway, Venice is not taking any chances. It has a pile of films sitting on the sidelines that may be pulled in to fill the slots falling vacant on the exit of any title.
Luca Guadagnino’s English-language romantic drama Challengers is poised to open the Festival on August 30, despite the likely no-show of its cast, which is headed by Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. Warner Bros has international rights to the movie with MGM/Amazon releasing it in North America.
The Venice Film Festival runs from August 30 to September 9.
Comments
0 comment