Cover ‘Poor Things’ (2023), with Emma Stone in the lead, is confirmed to premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Photo: AFP)
‘Poor Things’ (2023), with Emma Stone in the lead, is confirmed to premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Photo: AFP)
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The festival line-up will include Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’ and Edoardo De Angelis’s ‘Comandante’
The 80th edition of the prestigious Venice Film Festival on the beach-lined Lido, Italy, could be a more toned-down affair this year with fewer A-listers on the red carpet due to the first actors’ and writers’ in more than 60 years, which has effectively shut down Hollywood.
But although many US actors and actresses may have to stay away, the impact of the strike on the event running from August 30 to September 9 has so far been “very modest”, the festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, told journalists, with only one film pulling out entirely.
Talent working in independent films, which are not linked to the big studios, may still come to promote their latest work at the festival, he said when announcing the official lineup.
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“So we hope the red carpet won’t be as empty as some have stated in recent days,” said Barbera.
Among the 23 films competing for the top Golden Lion prize is Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (2023) about legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein.
Barbera described the film as a “biography of an extraordinary genius” that focuses on Bernstein’s tormented relationship with his wife, played by Carey Mulligan.
It was not clear if director Cooper, who also plays the lead role, will be able to attend.
Venice has increasingly become a launchpad for Oscar contenders, including recent winners such as La La Land (2016), A Star is Born (2018) and Joker (2019), with shots of celebrities arriving by gondola making for priceless PR.
Vying for Golden Lion
Emma Stone is not likely to appear for Poor Things (2023) in which she again teams up with Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (who directed Stone in The Favourite, released in 2018) and plays a woman brought back to life by an eccentric scientist.
The festival was forced to switch its opening film last week after Challengers (2023), a tennis romance starring US actress Zendaya, was withdrawn due to the strike.
It has been replaced by Comandante (2023) directed by Italy’s Edoardo De Angelis, a World War II naval drama starring Pierfrancesco Favino.
But many high-profile Hollywood films are pressing ahead with a Venice premiere, including Sofia Coppola’s movie about the wife of Elvis, and Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) with Adam Driver in the lead role.
International directors include France’s Luc Besson with Dogman (2023), Mexico’s Michel Franco with Memory (2023), which stars Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, and Italy’s Matteo Garrone (who directed 2014’s Gomorrah) with Io Capitano (2023).
Actors in the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG-AFTRA) went on strike earlier this month after talks to reach a new deal with studios failed, joining writers who have been striking since May.
Demands by the SAG-AFTRA union have focused on dwindling pay in the streaming era and the threat posed by artificial intelligence.
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