On the evening of August 30, local time, the 80th Venice Film Festival officially kicked off. Due to the impact of the double strikes of the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild, the highly anticipated opening red carpet was slightly dim this year. Led by American director Damien Chazelle, the main competition jury includes Shu Qi, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Love, Martin McDonagh, Laura Poitras, etc. Well-known filmmakers have become the highlights on the red carpet.

On August 30, 2023 local time, the 80th Venice Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy, with judges Laura Poitras, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Miter and jury president Damien Chazé Ray, Shu Qi, Jane Campion, Gabriel Menetti, Saleh Bakri and Mia Hansen-Love pose for a photo. Visual China Map

Main competition judge Shu Qi wore a black dress and appeared on the opening red carpet of the 80th Venice Film Festival. Visual China Map

In addition, veteran actress Charlotte Rampling and director Liliana Cavani, who won this year’s Venice Lifetime Achievement Award, are also attracting attention.

Liliana Cavani, winner of the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 80th Venice Film Festival, holds the trophy. Visual China Map

In terms of Chinese filmmakers, Fei Xiang represented the crew of "Fengshen Part 1: Chaoge Fengyun"; Li Meng, the star of "Short Story" directed by Wu Lang, also appeared in a black dress. The film was shortlisted for this year's short film competition unit.

Fei Xiang represented the cast of "Feng Shen" on the opening red carpet of the 80th Venice Film Festival. Visual China Map

Li Meng and director Wu Lang presented their work "Short Story" on the opening red carpet of the 80th Venice Film Festival. Visual China Map

Independent films all pardoned by unions

Due to the strikes by the Screen Actors Guild and the Screenwriters Guild, the 80th anniversary of the Venice Film Festival has been full of troubles. The originally scheduled opening film "Challenger" decided to reluctantly withdraw due to actor Zendaya and others being unable to participate in the promotion. Therefore, the opening film was replaced by "Commander", a local film competing for the Golden Lion Award. Naturally, it cannot compete with the former in terms of outside awareness.

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of various film companies, the Screen Actors Guild announced last week that well-known actors such as Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Mads Mikkelsen and Jessica Chastain , has been granted a temporary exemption and can attend the Venice Film Festival with confidence and boldness to promote the work.

Adam Driver is the leading actor in Michael Mann's new film "Ferrari" and plays the Italian racing legend Enzo Ferrari. If he can walk on the red carpet, it will be of great significance to the Venice Film Festival. Mads Mikkelsen and Jessica Chastain star in the main competition shortlisted films "Villain" and "Memory" respectively. In addition, Luc Besson's "Dog Man" and Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla," two other entries also received exemptions from the Screen Actors Guild, including Caleb Landry Jones The main actors, including , Carly Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, should all come to Lido Island.

"Ferrari" stills

Of course, the main reason why the above-mentioned films are favored by the Screen Actors Guild of America is that they are all independent productions. The producers and distributors behind them are independent companies such as Neon Pictures and A24 Pictures, and are not affiliated with American Film and Television. The Alliance of Producers (AMPTP), so the Screen Actors Guild, was also happy to do favors and allow these films to be promoted in Venice and later the Toronto Film Festival.

In recent years, the Venice Film Festival has attracted more and more Hollywood movies because it is held close to the Oscars season. Films such as "Gravity", "Birdman", "Focus", "La La Land", "The Shape of Water", "Rome", "Joker" and "Whale" all premiered in Venice first, and then at the Oscars. shine. Of the 23 films shortlisted for the main competition at last year's Venice Film Festival, 9 were from Hollywood; this year's Golden Lion Awards also included 23 films, and 8 were from Hollywood, which is not a small number. In addition to the above-mentioned films that have passed the customs clearance, "The Origin of Inequality in America" directed by Ava DuVernay is also an independent production, and it is believed that it is only a matter of time before the exemption is granted.

So, what's left is David Fincher's "Killer" produced by Netflix and "Master Music" written, directed, and starred by Bradley Cooper, as well as the European film released by Disney's Searchlight Pictures. "Poor Thing" by Gus Lanthimos. Given that both Netflix and Disney are members of the Alliance of American Film and Television Producers, a ban is inevitable.

For the Screen Actors Guild of America, with the Oscars season approaching, the rule that actors are not allowed to participate in new film promotional activities is sure to be extremely painful for major studios. And the more painful the studio is, the sooner they can be forced to return to the negotiating table, why not do it?

The remaining 15 entries also have a special situation similar to "Villain": Although it is a Danish film, the starring Mads Mikkelsen is a member of the Screen Actors Guild of America. batch. There is also the Italian film "Last Dawn", starring Lily James and Willem Dafoe, etc. are members of the Screen Actors Guild of America, and there is no news that they have received special approval yet.

As for the rest of the Italian entries "Commander", "Lubo", "I am the Captain", "Adagio" and "Aenea", the Belgian entry "Holly", the French entries "The Beast" and "Out of Season", The German entry "The Theory of Everything", the Chilean entry "Vampire Count", the Polish entry "Green Frontier" and "The Daughter" and the Japanese entry "Evil Doesn't Exist" will not be affected in any way, and the starring team will come to Venice to promote , The interview is not a problem at all.

From this point of view, it may also be considered that this year's film festival was affected by the strike of the American Screen Actors Union, but it was not as serious as originally expected. The big stars who are really absent because of the strike are probably Michael Fassbender of "Killer", Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan of "Master Music", and Emma Stanley of "Poor Things". Through these few.

Doors open for Hollywood exiles

Of the 23 films shortlisted for the main competition this year, 5 are directed by female directors. The ratio is not ideal, especially compared to the precedent of 7 female directors in the 21 entries of the Cannes Film Festival this year, which has attracted a lot of criticism from the outside world. Even American director Ava DuVernay's "The Origins of Inequality in the United States" was successfully shortlisted, setting a historical record for an African-American female director, and the American media did not give up criticism. They're blaming this year's Venice Film Festival for opening its doors to Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. Their new films "Swiss Garden" and "Fortune from Heaven" are both screened works this year.

The Origins of Inequality in America

This year has been 45 years since Polanski fled the United States after pleading guilty to having sex with an underage woman. Although the victim Samantha Gaimer has repeatedly stated that she has forgiven Polanski, in the eyes of the American media, breaking the law is breaking the law, and there is no room for negotiation. However, in the European film world, not everyone sees it this way. Polanski's last work "I Accused" won two awards for best director and best film at the 2020 French Caesar Awards Ceremony, and won numerous awards. The lack of applause also inspired French actress Adele Haenel to withdraw in protest, and the aftermath has continued to affect this year's Cannes Film Festival. Even so, there are still many big-name actors including Mickey Rourke, John Cleese, Fanny Aldan, who are willing to participate in Polanski's latest work, and the head of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera, too, once again opened the door to Polanski.

Four years ago, on August 30, 2019, Polanski's "I Accused" completed its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and later won the Jury Prize. At that time, Barbera was very supportive of Polanski, who was pushed back to the forefront of public opinion because of Hollywood's anti-sexual assault movement during that period, and publicly emphasized that he only looked at the artistic value of the work and did not comment on judicial issues. This time, when he was interviewed by the media, he defended Polanski more strongly than in the past.

"60 years have passed since Polanski's case. He has long admitted his mistakes, paid the price, and even got the victim's forgiveness. Over the years, the victim has repeatedly called on the outside world to calm down and let go of grievances. So in my opinion Come on, continuing to criticize Polanski fiercely is actually tantamount to blurring the focus, there are obviously many issues that deserve our attention, and this is just making Polanski a scapegoat."

"So, I don't understand why I can't invite Polanski's new film to the Venice Film Festival? I don't understand why I continue to attack such an 89-year-old film master? "Swiss Garden" is a An extraordinary film, and quite possibly the final film of his career - of course, I also pray that he will continue to make films until the age of 105, like Oliveira. In short, I am a film festival Director, I’m not a judge, I’m judging the artistic quality of the film. I think it’s better to look at the artist’s personal behavior and works separately. Otherwise, the entire past history of mankind will have to be rediscovered. evaluated."

"Swiss Garden" poster

As for Woody Allen, who brought the new work "Lucky From Heaven", in Barbera's view, there is no controversy at all. "Unlike Polanski, he was never charged with any formal charges. Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused Allen of molesting her as a child, but in the late 1990s, the case went through After two judicial investigations, the final result was that Allen was innocent."

Since participating in the non-competition section of the Cannes Film Festival with "Coffee Community" in 2016, this will be the first time that Woody Allen has premiered a new work at the three major European film festivals. As Allen's first French feature film, it should have been premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It is difficult to invite him to the Cannes Film Festival again.

Fortunately, the Italians are not afraid of the pressure of American public opinion. In fact, as early as 1995, Woody Allen had already won the Venice Lifetime Achievement Award. However, he has always been low-key. ·Palma will pick it up on your behalf. Earlier, Woody Allen's pseudo-documentary work "Xili Biography" was invited to participate in the Venice Film Festival in 1983.