A somewhat special edition for the 77th Venice Film Festival which opens, Wednesday September 2, for 10 days, under rigorous sanitary conditions.

"We could not not do the festival !, launched Tuesday afternoon to AFP, the director of the oldest film festivals, Alberto Barbera, ensuring that" all precautionary measures "had been taken to limit the risk of contagion from the coronavirus.

At his feet, the red carpet was bordered by a high gray wall, blocking the view of passers-by, to avoid crowds.

All access is monitored by thermal camera.

Those who have a temperature will not enter.

But on the Lido, ready to receive festival-goers on Tuesday evening, the essential is there: behind the walls of the imposing Palais du Cinéma, the dark rooms are ready for the first major international film festival in a world upset by the pandemic.

For the director of the Mostra, it was urgent: "We have had enough of watching films in streaming! We miss the experience of the film in theaters. And it is time to restart".

Early Wednesday evening, it will host the directors of Europe's biggest festivals, including Cannes and Berlin, usually competing to attract the best films.

They are planning to attend the opening night on the Lido to mark their "solidarity with the global film industry".

The latter, in full slump after months of closing cinemas or stopping filming around the planet, can hope to find some hope in the holding of the Mostra, less than six months after the cancellation of the festival of Cannes.

Then it will finally be the hour of the cinephiles: an Italian film out of competition, "Lacci" by Daniele Luchetti, the story of a Neapolitan family over 30 years punctuated by love, betrayals and resentment, has the honor of inaugurate the screenings, in rooms where one in two seats is condemned and where the wearing of a mask is required.

Women directors in the spotlight

The jury will get to work the next day.

Chaired for the second year in a row by a woman, the Australian Cate Blanchett, it will distinguish the recipient of the prestigious Golden Lion for best film, among productions from Italy, India and Poland, including 8 on 18 are made by women.

Mr. Barbera has also emphasized "the female component, hitherto confined to embarrassing percentages", certainly hoping to put an end to the controversies that have enamelled previous editions.

The subject remains hot for the world of cinema, three years after the #MeToo wave.

Alongside Cate Blanchett sit in particular the American actor Matt Dillon, the German director Christian Petzold, or the French actress Ludivine Sagnier, to designate the successor to "Joker" of Todd Phillips, crowned last year before winning five months two Oscars later.

Confirmed filmmakers are in the competition, such as the Israeli Amos Gitaï with "Laila in Haifa" or the Japanese Kiyoshi Kurozawa ("The sacrificed lovers").

France is represented by only one film, the drama "Amants" by Nicole Garcia.

Whatever the outcome of the competition, this edition of the Mostra, held against all odds, will not be like the others.

The wing has been reduced and American films, in particular, have become very rare, contrary to the habit taken in recent years to present large productions in Venice in the hope of putting them in orbit for the Oscar race.

With AFP

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