Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera has pulled off a pretty impressive feat this year by assembling a buzzy lineup with boatloads of stars set to disembark on the Lido, despite having less movies from the U.S. studios and streamers at his disposal.
They include new projects from top international directors, including Martin McDonagh, Florian Zeller, Danny Boyle, Werner Herzog, Lance Oppenheim, Nanni Moretti, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Lee Chang-dong, plus the world premiere of Oasis reunion doc “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” with British brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher in tow.
After announcing his mouth-watering selection, Barbera spoke to Variety about the changing studio ecosystem and how it doesn’t necessarily mean that festivals will be left out of the equation going forward.
What’s your explanation for the dearth of films from U.S. studios and streamers? Have they gone cold on Venice and festivals in general?
We shouldn’t jump to hasty conclusions that could be misleading. Let’s stick to the facts. Look closely, at all the attempted predictions made in recent months regarding the films that could land in Venice. There were few Hollywood films listed in the predictions because the truth is that there just aren’t any. The problem is that they aren’t there. The studios are in such a state of stalemate, struggling and redefining themselves by merging. Or in any case, experiencing an identity crisis, that auteur films usually destined for festivals just aren’t there. It’s not because they don’t want to come to our festival.
