Venice on the Croisette
Moritz De Hadeln, the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, and the deputy director, Luigi Cuciniello, met the media at the Italian Pavilion today to talk about the forthcoming edition.
This will be the former Berlinale chieftain’s second time on the Lido and he’s putting the focus on the selection of titles and modernising the infrastructure of Italy’s premier film event that will run from 27 August to 5 September.
The novelties range from a new sales space to a new package deal the organisers struck with hoteliers in Venice proper and on the Lido whereby attendance costs will be cut by between 20 per cent and 30 per cent. The Excelsior is setting aside a 500 sq m space for 25 stands, and sales companies will have two new screening rooms at their disposal. “We cannot ignore the fact that cinema is expensive and Venice has to allow the industry to do business,” explained De Hadeln.
A deficit in the Biennale’s coffers saw the Mostra’s budget cut by almost Euros500,000: De Hadeln’s team was assigned Euros5m. Not a lot if one considers the projects being planned. They include three new venues, with the PalaBNL relocating to the grounds of the former Lido Airport (redundant for the last 30 years) to create a proper area for the Market "without taking anything away from MIFED", as De Hadeln pointed out. He concluded the meeting with the announcement that this year’s retrospective would be dedicated to the creative producers of the past.
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