The Venice Film Festival begins. Czech production is there too!
Following the luxurious opening ceremony, the film showcase started with the satirical film Downsizing by American director Alexander Payne. Quite a few of the opening films at the festival have gone on to win Oscars, such as Gravity with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney or last year’s musical La La Land. Perhaps there is an Oscar in store for Downsizing as well.…
There are 21 films vying for the main festival award this year. It is also the first year to feature the new Virtual Reality category.
The main competition includes the works of five American directors, four Italians, two Brits, three French directors, two Chinese and one each from Mexico, Australia, Israel, Lebanon and Japan.
Czechs are there too
There is no Czech film in the main competition, but a restored version of the classic Czechoslovak nouvelle vague film Černý Petr from director Miloš Forman will be shown as a part of the Venice Classics category, which presents a selection of the best digitally restored films of the past year.
The festival will also present two Czech projects currently under development: the feature film Žáby bez jazyka by Slovak graduate from Prague’s FAMU Academy, Mira Fornayová, and the documentation Až přijde válka from director Jan Gebert.
Jury to be chaired by a woman again after 11 years
Contrary to all customs, the master of the opening and later closing ceremonies is a man, Italian actor Alessandro Borghi, and after 11 years, the jury will be chaired once again by a woman, American actress Annette Benning.
Among the favourite contenders in the main prize is the luxurious fantasy drama by Guillermo del Toro The Shape of Water with Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer. In the film, a mute housekeeper becomes close with a mysterious aquatic creature trapped in a government laboratory.
The awards are shaped like winged lions. They are luxurious and everybody in the film industry would love to have one at home. Let’s see who wins them this year. Robert Redford and Jane Fonda should receive them for their lifelong contribution to film. Congratulations!
Fashion and style
Film and fashion fans always look forward to the flocks of celebrities strutting the red carpet during the event. This year, some of the sexy couples to be seen were Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, or George Clooney and his luxurious wife Amal, a famous Lebanese lawyer, who recently welcomed twins Ella and Alexander.
