From now on, it will get even more severe. With the official screenings of Pablo Larrain’s eagerly awaited Maria, starring Angelina Jolie as Callas, and Luis Ortega’s El Jockey, Venezia 81 celebrates the opening of its official competition, that every year sends winning films, protagonists and revelations onto the stage (and into the nominations) of the Oscars. For the thirteenth consecutive time, the Festival is under the sign of Alberto Barbera (and if we count the three years 1999-2021, we arrive at 16), the artistic director who, year after year, has made Venice the resounding world stage for auteur cinema that it is today, anticipating trends, discovering authors, relaunching protagonists, opening up to excellent restorations and the future of the Immersive, up to auteur TV series. Barbera received applause yesterday from the new President of La Biennale, Pierangelo Buttafuoco. On this stage, not only Hollywood stars (never so many in years, by the way) but also Italian cinema, which has its most crucial showcase on the Lido. After the six films competing in the Official Selection 2023, the Italian industry can count this year on five stories in competition for the Golden Lion directed by Italian directors (Luca Guadagnino, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, Maura Delpero, the Grassadonia-Piazza duo, Gianni Amelio), and three out-of-competition (Francesca Comencini, Pupi Avati and the Massimo D’Anolfi-Martina Parenti duo), plus the medium-length films by Marco Bellocchio and Alice Rohrwacher. There will be another large patrol of Italian titles in the other sections, including Venice Days, Critics’ Week, Orizzonti, Orizzonti Extra, and Venetian Nights. These are films that everyone will see, and that will be talked about for days in the Italian and international media.
It’s a golden opportunity, one that should not be overlooked. Because it is from Venice (and in some cases also from the Rome Film Festival, coming in October), that the new trends in taste and the triumphs of quality cinema have emerged in recent years. And more often than not, they are our own.
