Venice Film Festival to open with Italy's 'Lacci' from Daniele Luchetti
Jul 24, 2020
Washington D.C. [USA], July 24 : In a first in over 10 years, the Venice Film Festival is set to open with an Italian film 'Lacci', helmed by film director Daniele Luchetti.
According to Variety, the last instance when an Italian film inaugurated the festival was in 2009, where Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Baaria' kicked off the fest.
Openers in recent years have all been largely US or European offerings. The 2019 opening film was Hirokazu Kore-eda's Catherine Deneuve-starrer 'The Truth.' The year prior, it was Damien Chazelle's Ryan Gosling-fronted 'First Man,' and in 2017, Venice opened with Alexander Payne's 'Downsizing.'
Given the restrictions placed on international travel, raising the curtains on the 2020 fest with a domestic offering was largely expected. It virtually guarantees one of the first major red carpet events in months.
Venice runs from September 2 to 12 and will be the first major international film event to hold a physical edition amid the coronavirus crisis. The fest's line-up is set to be announced Tuesday (July 28), and though reduced, organisers have promised it will be substantial.
The festival's official selection will consist of 50-55 feature films, roughly 20 of which will screen in the main competition, called Venezia 77. The rest of the titles will launch either in the Horizons section, dedicated to edgier fare or in the Lido's Out of Competition section.
Currently, travel into Italy is allowed from within Europe, including the UK, and open to a few third-party countries such as Australia, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand. There is a ban in place for the U.S., though it's expected to lift by July 31.
