Lights, camera, action! Film festival gala back on in Venice

INTERNATIONAL blockbuster and auteur movies as well as Hollywood’s jet-set return to the Venice Film Festival in what the jury president says shows the “life force” of cinema in troubled times.

Held on the glitzy, beachlined Lido, the world’s oldest film festival will seek to recover some of the glamor lost last year, when coronavirus kept away many participants, including the most red carpetworthy celebrities.

But with strict anti-COVID-19 measures in place, “La Mostra,” as it is known in Italy, will again seek to prove that it is the indispensable springboard for the Oscars, with a first-rate sampling of films from around the globe.

Fans of Hollywood big-budget releases are anxiously awaiting the premiere of “Dune,” the US$165 million sci-fi film, while Matt Damon and Ben

Affleck — with or without Jennifer Lopez — return as actors and screenwriters for Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel.”

In the main competition, the bar is high this year, after the rival Cannes Film Festival stole some focus in July after canceling its 2020 competition.

But the director of Venice’s festival, Alberto Barbera, said the pandemic appeared to have stimulated the creativity of filmmakers, with a particularly high quality of submissions this year.

“It’s like the difficult circumstances ... served to stimulate the creativity of the directors,” said Barbera ahead of the opening, as workers put final touches on the red carpet.

“Many of the directors’ films are among their best,” Barbera said. “This means that probably this edition will be one of the strongest of recent years.”

A jury led by “Parasite” director Bong Joon-Ho will award one of 21 films in the main competition the coveted Golden Lion top prize during a closing night ceremony on September 11.

“Filmmakers had a very tough time this year and last year, but in a way, looking back on it, it feels this was a test and it showed the life force of cinema,” Bong said at a press conference yesterday.

“As a filmmaker I don’t believe the history of cinema could be stopped so easily. So COVID-19 will pass and cinema will continue,” he added.

“Nomadland,” which snatched up multiple Oscars, including best film, at the 2020 Academy Awards, was last year’s Venice winner, although neither director Chloe Zhao nor leading actress Frances McDormand were able to make the trip to Italy.