Venice Film Festival 2021 returns with blockbuster line-up
Momentum has been building all week and now the Venice Film Festival returns with a slew of celebrities and hotly anticipated premieres.
The Venice Film Festival has returned in all its glory after last year’s scaled down event defied COVID-19 to go ahead, defining the pandemic red carpet.
A steady stream of visitors has descended on the city over the European Spring and Summer, coinciding with celebrations marking the 1,600th anniversary of the founding of the city, high-octane couture fashion shows by Valentino earlier this year and the celebrity-dominated Dolce & Gabbana this week, which served as a curtain-raiser to week’s festival.
A-listers channelled old-Hollywood glamour as they graced the red carpet on the festival’s opening night, with stars including Penelope Cruz, Helen Mirren, Milena Smit and model Barbara Palvin stealing the show in big, exuberant designs.
At the premier of Madres Paralelas, Cruz, who stars in the film, looked flawless in a black Chanel gown with a billowing skirt, bows and white feather-tipped tiers.
Princess Diana’s nieces, Amelia and Eliza Spencer, were also spotted both wearing stunning floor length Alberta Ferretti gowns.
Helen Mirren was glamour-personified in a silver sequined design by Dolce & Gabbana with a matching headband and clutch purse.
On Wednesday morning Italian time, members of the jury — which include Oscar winning director Chloe Zhao, Cynthia Erivo and jury President, Bong Joon Ho, fronted up for a photo-call.
Kristen Dunst — who stars in the hotly anticipated Jane Campion film, The Power of the Dog, which will premiere at the festival — as well as Matt Dillon and Maggie Gyllenhaal were among the first spotted in town on Wednesday morning.
Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton were among the A-listers who braved last year’s low-key event which was held despite the pandemic.
The world’s oldest film festival has embraced Hollywood in recent years and its 78th edition, running September 1-11, is no exception. Cementing its status as a serious rival to Cannes, the festival will include the world premiere of sci-fi blockbuster “Dune” starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, and Kristen Stewart’s turn as Princess Diana.
Denis Villeneuve’s Warner Brothers behemoth Dune, which has been delayed by around a year and screens out of competition. Chalamet, plays the young man whose family gets ownership of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, which is the home of the world’s most valuable resource, a drug called spice that extends human life and gives its users superhuman powers.
“It’s a strong comeback of the Americans, so Warner Brothers, Universal and Disney have films in the program,” Festival director Alberto Barbera said in his festival announcement last month. “There will be stars and VIPS who were not present last year. Americans have emerged from their lockdown and they are ready to restart something.”
At the weekend, fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana hosted their latest Alta Moda show where a slew of talent including Jennifer Lopez, Helen Mirren, January Jones, Zoe Saldana and Jennifer Hudson dressed to impress.
Musicians including Doja Cat, Normani and Jennifer Lopez also attended, taking glamour to a whole other level.
“Venezia was all aglow last night,“ the actress wrote on her social media. “The @DolceGabbana show was simply magical.”
There is also plenty of film festival buzz around Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, which stars Anja Taylor Joy, and Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” marks the return of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, writing and starring together for the first time since their Oscar-winning breakout “Good Will Hunting” in the 1990s.
Pablo Larrain’s Princess Di biopic, Spencer, which focuses on the later years in the life of the Princess of Wales when she decides to end her marriage to Prince Charles, promises to be unlike any other portrayal of the royal family. “Knowing Pablo’s approach we can be sure that the film will not be something based on the news,” Barbera said.
AFP