"The free circulation of ideas and talent"
Good fortune sat on the shoulder of European cinema last night at the 62nd edition of la Mostra which welcomed for the opening ceremony Thierry Frémaux, the director of the Cannes Festival, his Berlin counterpart, Dieter Kosslick and the president of Locarno, Marco Solari. This unusual show of support in the ultra-competitive world of big cinema festivals is due no doubt to the efforts of the Venice selector, Marco Muller who this year concocted a very diverse programme. Among the other guests of the opening night were John Woo, David Cronenberg and the Italian minister for Culture, Rocco Buttiglione.
It was a quote from French director François Truffaut which the Spanish actress Inès Sastre, godmother of the festival this year, used to open the 62nd Mostra: "to have a notion of the cinema is to have a notion of the World, because the cinema is the art that most allows the free circulation of ideas and talent ". A rallying-call which preceded the official opening by Davide Croff, the president of the Venice Festival.
A little later in the afternoon, the press conference by the jury of the official competition got quickly to the point. Baptised "worker president » by Marco Muller, the Italian designer Dante Ferretti particularly reminded the Italian journalists that the jury functions democratically, giving no advantage to the three Italian films in the running.
Kicking off last night with Seven Swords from Hong-Kong director Tsui Hark as opening film, la Mostra gives an indication early on of two of the candidates for the Golden Lion : George Clooney (Goodnight and good luck) and Manoel de Oliveira with Espelho magico.
(Translated from French)
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