Cate Blanchett at the 75th Venice Film Festival
It seems that the 2020 Venice Film Festival will be taking place outdoors this year! The festival will happen on the 2nd – 12th September and will host outdoor film screenings. The lineup of films has also been reduced to around just 50 feature films.
It was also announced by Artistic Director, Alberto Barbera that the fundamentals of the festival will remain as they always have done, as 20 feature films will be selected for the main competition, known as Venezia 77, with Cate Blanchett heading this year’s jury.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing rules and regulations will still apply; the Venice Film Festival committee has stated that the week-long film extravaganza will take place across two outdoor screening locations: one in Venice’s skating rink on the lido and the other at the Giardini della Biennale.
The skating rink location will be allocated for screenings that non-industry attendees will be able to attend.
Alberto Barbera
What's more is that the Venice Film Festival’s virtual reality competition will be taking place online, and the “Venice Classics” selection of movies will be screened in Bologna, separately, at the Cinema Ritrovato festival from August 25th- 31st.
Alberto Barbera said in a statement, “I am extremely pleased that the Biennale Cinema can be held with a minimum reduction of films and sections. Without forgetting the countless victims of these past few months to whom due tribute shall be paid, the first international festival following the forced interruption dictated by the pandemic becomes the meaningful celebration of the reopening we all looked forward to, and a message of concrete optimism for the entire world of cinema which has suffered greatly from this crisis. The Official Selection of Venezia 77, with its 50-55 films from around the world, will provide its traditional overview of the best that the film industry has produced in recent months, thanks to the extraordinary response by directors and producers, despite the arduous working conditions over these past few months. A significant number of directors and actors will accompany the films to the Lido, while internet connections will make it possible to hold press conferences with all those who will be unable to participate in person, due to the travel restrictions that remain in place.”
The Toronto International Film Festival also runs shortly after Venice and has also made some changes to its set up and schedule which also include a virtual red carpet and fewer films being screened.
