It was a difficult year for all film festivals, which made this morning’s announcement of Venice International Film Festival programming even more surprising. One way or another, artistic director Alberto Barbera has put together a schedule of more than 50 films from around the world. It is the first primary fall festival to reveal its full lineup.
Although Venice may load titles in the coming days, it is clear that this year’s edition will not resemble the previous ones. The 2019 variety included brilliant premieres with Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep; this venice edition has fewer American films starring, reflecting our current inability for Europe. The variety of Venice still offers much to explore with at least one main Oscar nominee, a diversity of promising new works through foreign and newcomer authors, and nearly 50% of its festival with female directors.
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Barbera spoke by phone with IndieWire about the practical and demanding situations of this year’s festival organization, some of the highlights of programming and how she hopes the occasion will have an effect on the industry. He also talked about the absence of Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks,” The Netflix Fall List and the Cannes 2020 selection. Venice runs from 2 to 12 September.
This interview was changed for reasons of duration and clarity.
What was the turning point at which you learned that you can schedule this year’s festival?
For a long time, we didn’t think we could justify the massive investment and the position involved, etc. It wasn’t until early June that we became more confident about the option of hosting the festival in smart conditions. We learned that we could invite at least 50 movies and we ended up with more than that. So far, we have announced 52 titles from more than 50 countries.
When we became aware of the option of having a festival, uncertainty was the dominant feeling to the end. We didn’t know what movies might be available, who would settle for our invitations or not. It was a dead and a must. One day we were more optimistic; the next day we would get bad news for the postponement of the release dates. It wasn’t easy to organize a festival in those conditions. There have been some films for which we have not yet won confirmation, but we hope to have some things sooner.
Who’s going to the festival this year?
We know that all European filmmakers and talents will come. They need to come and they can come. It’s more confusing and complicated for those who come from other parts of the world. Europe’s borders have been closed. We have to wait a little longer to see if the restrictions will be less serious in early September and whether there will be the possibility of receiving visitors from some blocked countries at this time, such as the United States. We know that some other people from China will attend. We don’t know those in Australia, India and South America. Some, if not most, will not travel, but are willing to do so. We’ll hold online press meetings and zoom interviews to make sure they advertise their movies.
What about your jury president, Cate Blanchett?
How has the festival environment adapted to the new standards of protection? My reports at film festivals have worried the crowds.
The festival takes place on a small island, which is very quiet, and makes it very easy to put in place strict security measures. We will have 8 other problems of access to the festival domain where we can do our first temperature checks for the other people attending the festival. Secondly, we will have to respect the social distance in theatres. We will only use 50% of the seats in the room. Everyone will have to book a position in advance. They’ll have to come with a price ticket and a seat number. It will be easy to access the theater safely. We need everyone to come to the festival without any danger in doing so.
So what’s the protocol if he gets sick?
Since everyone has to book a place by email, this means we can monitor all festival participants. We know what theaters they went to, where they sat, the other people they were close to. Then, if necessary, we must inform everyone immediately.
As the pandemic continued, many expected Venice to focus primarily on supporting the Italian film industry. The biggest Italian film to be released this year, “Tre Piani” through Nanni Moretti, would have waited for Cannes 2021. How was the rest of the Italian variety born?
The only Italian filmmaker to wait until next year is Moretti. All the other Italian filmmakers and manufacturers were surely willing to come to Venice. They delivered everything that was in position in time for us. I am quite satisfied because the quality of the Italian films is much higher this year. It is a confirmation of the intelligent area in which Italian cinema is located.
How did you manipulate the filmmakers and representatives who were looking to wait until 2021?
Of course, there are other filmmakers from other countries who have made other selections. There are many French films that are finished to the fullest or that may not be in time for Venice. Have them postpone and wait for Cannes. It’s a non-public selection I respect. I tried to talk to them about the side effects of this scenario. If cinemas reopen, and will reopen, in most cases, in the fall, but the maximum number of smart movies is postponed until next year, why should the audience turn back? It’s a tough scenario. But let’s see. The scenario is so confusing and unprecedented that it is difficult to take the right resolution in those circumstances.
Why are there so few Americans in the lineup?
We are still discussing several titles with manufacturers and will see in the next few days they may or may not come.
I ask them about the lack of Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks.”
It was under discussion until a few days ago. Finally, distributors should not take any chances, postpone the release date. [According to A24, the film has not yet official date.] It was a name we desperately wanted for Venice. We’ve had an argument for months about this movie, but it’s over.
His niece, Gia Coppola, is part of the preprogramming with his first feature film, “Palo Alto”. How does your new access compare in the “Mainstream” contest?
It’s a bigger budget film, more ambitious and with a bigger cast with Andrew Garfield in the lead role. It’s less intimate and not public than the last, but it’s a very new subject. It’s the story of a social media influencer and how he loses his profile. It’s very interesting.
Another feature of the moment of its festival comes from India. Chaitanya Tamnhane’s first film, “Court”, a hit on the festival circuit in 2014. His new film, “The Disciple,” is the first Indian film to compete in nearly 20 years.
It’s not an easy, rigorous film in every sense, from storytelling to taste and the way it treats characters. It’s very nice and elegant. He won a lot from Alfonso Cuarón in this film because Alfonso really loves this filmmaker, and I absolutely agree with him.
He’s scheduled Frederick Wiseman’s Out-of-competition “City Council.” His latest, “Ex Libris, – The New York Public Library,” in competition. What did you replace this time?
Wiseman’s film is a four-hour documentary about Boston City Hall. This is another beautiful bankruptcy in his studies on the primary establishments of American society, after “At Berkeley” and “Ex Libris”. It’s charming and unexpected, a kind of lesson about the pillars of our democracy. We wondered whether or not it was fair to compete with the film. But we had so many smart videos that Fred had his own popularity and an unwavering audience, so he’ll get all the attention he deserves anyway. He agreed and we are very grateful.
Last year, there were only two films directed through women in the festival section. This year, 8 of the 18 films – 44%, almost gender parity – are targeted through women. How did you fill the gaps in the programming procedure to your numbers here?
In fact, we haven’t replaced anything in the variety process. We had no prejudice against women in the afterlife and did not replace the variety criteria this year. We don’t determine videos that use gender protocols. Our goal was to opt for films only on the basis of their quality. We were lucky enough to find many very smart films made through women this year and were incredibly pleased to have 8 films directed through women this year in 18 titles. It is a very satisfying and useful coincidence that so many smart films have been made through women. It’s very, very simple to make the decision to put everyone in the main competition. I hope to get rid of all the unrest we have raised in the afterlife on this issue. We help women fight for fair repair in industry and society as a whole.
Have you noticed any adjustments to the volume of female managers entering the festival?
Not really. Approximately 23% of the presentations were made through women, the same as last year. Fortunately, this year more than 28% of Venice programming films are directed by women. It is a great luck for the festival to meet this expectation from everyone.
Chloe Zhao’s movie “Nomadland” is one of those films. At his press conference, he said he had a genuine perspective for the Oscars, a prediction he made last year for “Joker.” Explain this year’s prognosis.
I love the movie It’s incredibly original, personal, touching, moving, with a very good functionality through Frances McDormand, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the film was one of this year’s Oscar nominees. When you see the film, you’ll understand why I’m so proud of it with our colleagues in New York, Toronto and Telluride. We all fell in love with her. It’s not a wonderful film in terms of scale. I don’t know what Fox Searchlight’s expectations are in terms of box office, but it’s beautiful, touching, original and very personal. It can become a great fortune if promoted well and grows with more public attention.
You have an out-of-competition movie, “Molecole” through Andrea Segre, made the lockdown. But you said at the press convention that you’d noticed others. How did you land on this one?
We’ve noticed a lot of blocked filmed videos, whether it’s with iPhones, internal apartments or whatever. Most of them may not become anything more than a kind of life chronicle in blocking. Andrea Segre’s film was shot in Venice two weeks after the cancellation of the Venice Carnival and before the final on 8 March. The city was already absolutely empty; all the tourists were gone. Andrea began filming in this empty city, then added a very non-public narrative with her memories of her father who came here from Venice, and was also a filmmaker there in the 1960s and 1970s. He reflects on his isolation from the pandemic, confronting his memories. It’s very touching. That’s why we chose this one from everyone else who has come before us.
Earlier this year, Cannes announced a variety of 56 films even though it was unable to host the 2020 festival. None of them are part of their range. Why didn’t Venice schedule any?
Thierry Fremaux is a smart friend and we’ve been in touch for both a week and two of the lockout. I would say that from the beginning we sought to find a way to collaborate. We exchange information, opinions, doubts, whatever. We started talking about some ideas, but the scenario was constantly changing, so both proposals have become obsolete very quickly. At one point, we learned that it made no sense to accentuate a variety between Cannes and Venice. So we abandoned that idea. Thierry made the decision to make his own variety labeled “Cannes 2020”, and I knew there were many, many films that were not in a position in time for Cannes.
In addition, most of the films in the Cannes variety will go to other festivals – San Sebastian, Toronto, Rome, Deauville and others – so there was no genuine desire to invite films that had their own promoters elsewhere. We made the decision to choose 60 new films that we may support, increasing the number of films that will generally be admitted during fall festivals. I think it’s a better way to help the film industry in those specific circumstances. That doesn’t mean we didn’t want to collaborate with Cannes. We are still discussing with them a task that we hope to disseminate in the near future.
About access: As one of the Americans who cannot go to Europe right now, what part of the programming do you expect to be given to the foreign press and industry?
Most manufacturers, filmmakers and sales agents don’t need to make special screenings for anyone. I would love to be able to provide links to the press that cannot attend Venice in person, but I cannot force manufacturers to make another decision. Unfortunately, this is an opportunity that cannot be implemented.
In peak years, you’ll have to answer questions about Netflix movie programming and the show’s long duration. Netflix has made it clear that there will be no movies for fall festivals several months ago. What do you think of this omission?
They made the decision to be very strict in terms of blocking. They won’t let anyone travel to the end of the pandemic. As a result, they made the decision not to give away any films to a festival until they felt safe. We had a long discussion with Netflix. They kept saying they would be in favor of the future, but in those cases they didn’t need to take any chances. I just won a phone call from Scott Stuber [Netflix executive] confirming that they regretted not being able to finish Venice this year and that we couldn’t finish anything. Anyway, most of your videos aren’t ready. They’ll be back in the future. By this year, we have to settle for your position.
No matter how Venice develops this year, the foreign film industry is facing an unprecedented catastrophe. Here in the United States, maximum productions and theaters are closed. He’s spent the last few months watching new videos and hosting a main public event. What gives you hope for the future?
This is incredibly vital to me. Venice will be the first main film occasion to be held, followed by Toronto, New York, San Sebastian and others. Some festivals will have a smaller scale than usual, but the preference to restart after closing is a very positive sign. We all share the feeling that we can no longer wait in a state of isolation unless the consequences are even worse than we have had to suffer in recent months. The festival can play a role here. We can prove that it is imaginable to return to the gym safely with the procedure we have implemented. Let’s hope that when Venice arrives, it can be an example to all of us. It circulates so much fear, doubt and uncertainty. We have to make an effort to restart. Otherwise, it would be a crisis for all cinematic culture.
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