From Wednesday 31 August until Saturday 10 September, the famous International Film Festival will come to life on the Venice Lido. This year’s poster image is signed – for the fifth year – by Italian illustrator and author Lorenzo Mattotti. For the 79th year of the event, the artist has chosen to depict a lioness. The gold colour dominates, a tribute to past posters, the lion symbol of courage and strength becomes a lioness. Undoubtedly a strong message of gender equality and equality.
Directing the event organised by the Biennale, chaired by Roberto Cicutto, will be Alberto Barbera. Rocío Muñoz Morales will instead be the godmother, and will therefore conduct the opening and closing evenings of the festival.
VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2022
The Venice Festival will be inaugurated with the screening of the film in competition directed by Noah Baumbach, White Nose, which will feature actors such as Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy and Sam Nivola. Once again this year there will be three juries: the jury of the competition, the jury of the Orizzonti section and the jury of the Premio Venezia Opera Prima Luigi de Laurentis – Leone del futuro. The first will be presided over by the wonderful actress Julianne Moore, flanked by the director and screenwriter Leonardo Di Costanzo, the Argentinean television author Mariano Cohn, the director Audrey Diwan, the Iranian actress Leila Hatamim, the Anglo-Japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro and the Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen. The second jury will be chaired by Spanish screenwriter Isabel Coixet, with directors and screenwriters Laura Bispuri, Antonio Campos, Sofia Djama and French film critic Édouard Waintrop. The third and final jury consists of director and screenwriter Michelangelo Frammartino, Portuguese director and screenwriter Ana Rocha de Sousa, costume designer Rosalie Varda, Polish director Jan P. Matuszyńsi and actress Tessa Thompson. All three juries will award various prizes. For example, the competition jury will award some of the most important prizes, such as the Golden Lion for Best Film, the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, the Silver Lion – Best Director Prize and the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor for Best Female and Best Male.
In addition, as every year, the Lifetime Achievement Lions will be awarded. This year’s edition will pay tribute to the stainless icon of French cinema Catherine Deneuve and the American director and screenwriter Paul Schrader.
During the Venice International Film Festival, no less than five films by Italian directors will be in competition, including “Bones and All” directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by David Kajganich, then “L’immensità” directed by Emanuele Crialese with Penélope Cruz in the lead role, then “Il signore delle formiche” by Gianni Amelio, “Monica” directed by Andrea Palloro, and finally “Chiara” by Susanna Nicchiarelli.
A long list of films in and out of competition, which you can consult on the official site of the Venice Biennale. In the meantime, we only wait for the start of this irreplaceable Festival, long live art, long live beauty, long live cinema.