• Barbera: "Venice will have the red carpet, with the necessary precautions"
  • Venice Biennale: postponement for Theater and Dance festivals, confirmed Cinema in September

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07 July 2020 The total number of films in the official selection will be reduced, albeit to a limited extent in the new edition of the Venice Film Festival scheduled for 2 to 12 September. It is one of the measures made necessary following the health protocols imposed by the Covid-19 emergency. The program foresees the confirmation of the competitive sections Venezia 77 and Orizzonti, which will be held according to the usual methods and dimensions, in the same way as the Out of Competition section, as well as the Biennale College Cinema. The screenings will be held in the rooms traditionally set up on the Lido, with the adoption of all health security measures. The Venezia Virtual Reality competition instead, instead of on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, will be entirely available online, while Venezia Classici will be hosted in Bologna at the Cineteca from 25 to 31 August. 

The 77th Venice Film Festival, which will be presented in detail on July 28th, instead renounces this year to organize the Sconfini section, in order to guarantee the greatest number of seats available for the films of the main sections just confirmed. The Venezia Classici section will be hosted within the program of the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, promoted by the Cineteca di Bologna, in a collaboration between the two festivals "which offers an unprecedented solution to an extraordinary situation. The selection of restored Classics, enriched with further titles, will then be repeated in Venice in the following months ".

Two outdoor arenas will also be available, one at the Giardini della Biennale and one at the Lido skating rink. Most of the films in the official program will also be shown at the Rossini Cinemas in Venice and at the Candiani Cultural Center in Mestre, as part of the Outer Night program organized by the Cinema Circuit of the Municipality of Venice. The Venice Biennale, to make the Exhibition run safely, is underlined in a note, will follow all anti-Covid-19 protocols on health procedures, in full respect of public health.

As for the Venice Production Bridge, the 5th edition (3-11 September 2020) will be held both in presence at the Lido with the usual structures on the third floor of the Hotel Excelsior, and online with specific projects. The organization has been confirmed in the presence of the Venice Gap Financing Market (Vgfm, feature films) and the Book Adaptation Rights Market, which will also offer many opportunities to participate remotely (Vgfm for all Virtual Reality projects, Final Cut in Venice, Market screenings and the European Film Forum). Conferences and events will be held physically at the Hotel Excelsior and will be visible for the first time in streaming on the Venice Production Bridge website, on which every other detail on the program can be found. 

Barbera: "Let's celebrate the restart of cinema"
Even if with a minimal reduction of titles and sections and "without forgetting the many victims", the fact that the Venice Film Festival can be held, the first international festival after the forced interruption imposed from the pandemic "it takes on the meaning of a hoped for celebration of the restart, and a message of concrete optimism for the entire world of cinema hit hard by the crisis," said artistic director Alberto Barbera, pleased that the Biennale Cinema has confirmed the exhibition .

"The Venice 77 Official Selection, with its 50-55 films from all over the world, will offer the usual overview of the best the film industry has produced in recent months, thanks to the extraordinary response that directors and producers have been able to give , despite the difficult working conditions of the last few months. A large presence of authors and actors will accompany the films on the Lido, while internet connections will allow press conferences to be held for all those who cannot attend in person, following the restrictions of travel still active, "he explained.