The red carpet at this year’s Venice Film Festival is proving to be unlike any before it, with celebrities arriving on the island of Lido in face masks and gowns to a muted reception.
The 77th edition of the festival is one of the first major cultural events to take place in Europe since the coronavirus pandemic took hold on the continent, with the Cannes Film Festival canceling its 2020 event in May.
“We are not proud to be the first, after the forced pause, to be able to do so,” said Roberto Cicutto, president of festival organizer La Biennale di Venezia, in an online statement. “But we are proud of having shown… that it can be done, putting in place all the safety measures and presenting a program that has little to envy those of the preceding years.”
Those safety measures include mandatory face masks, temperature checks, physical distancing during screenings and a wall built around the red carpet to keep the public away.
Though attendance was much sparser than in previous years, celebrities still touched down on the red carpet in style. Tilda Swinton, who is a Chanel ambassador, arrived at the opening ceremony in a white blouse and black crepe layered skirt from the brand’s Spring-Summer 2020 Haute Couture collection. The glimmering gold carnival mask she carried was later traded for a loftier gold object: the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement, awarded to her during the event.
Actor and jury president Cate Blanchett greeted festival director Alberto Barbera by touching elbows, with both wearing masks. Blanchett paired hers with an Esteban Cortazar cape dress she had previously worn to the “Carol” premiere at the 2015 London Film Festival.
Elsewhere, model Taylor Hill hit the red carpet in an Etro crystal-embroidered floral chiffon gown, while Roberta Armani impressed in a vivid blue number from her uncle Giorgio’s namesake label. “Game of Thrones” actor Nathalie Emmanuel made a statement by wearing a Miu Miu Women’s Tales T-shirt honoring women directors. The shirt she chose, which she paired with a fitted ankle-length blue skirt, featured stills from an Ava DuVernay short film.
At the premiere of the drama “Mainstream,” starring Maya Hawke and Andrew Garfield, Hawke wowed in a Versace mermaid gown with embroidered Swarovski crystals and a waterfall effect of gold appliqué. Director Gia Coppola joined her – socially distanced on the carpet – in a tiered multicolor Gucci dress with billowing sleeves and high collar.
At the premiere of the buzzy period love story “The World to Come,” starring Vanessa Kirby, Katherine Waterston and Casey Affleck, Kirby looked effortless in a plunging black Armani suit.
The future of cinema
This year’s Venice Film Festival opened with the premiere of “Lacci,” a romantic drama directed by Daniele Luchetti. The movie, which is set in Naples and depicts a marriage on the brink, has been compared to Noah Baumbach’s 2019 hit “Marriage Story.” The festival also saw the premieres of movies including the Greta Thunberg biopic “Greta,” Pedro Almodóvar’s Swinton-led “The Human Voice,” and the moody Frances McDormand road trip story “Nomadland.”
On September 7, Regina King made history as the first Black woman to have a directorial debut at the festival. Her film, “One Night in Miami,” is an adaptation of a Kemp Powers play (first staged in 2013) about a real meeting that took place in 1964 between Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke.
On stage at the opening ceremony, festival director Barbera voiced his concern about the future of cinema, as the pandemic could give streaming services a further edge over theaters. “The feeling of watching a film on the large screen with other people is in the very nature of the film industry,” he said. “We have to support cinemas. Many are still closed today, others will never open again.”
While accepting her Lifetime Achievement award, Swinton emphasized the tenacity of the film industry: “To come to Venice, this year of all years, to celebrate immortal cinema and her defiant survival in the face of all the challenges that evolution might throw at her – as at us all – will be my sincere joy.”
This year’s Venice Film Festival is being held at the Venice Lido and runs from September 2-12, 2020.
Scroll through the gallery above to see the best looks from Venice Film Festival’s red carpet. The gallery will be updated throughout the event.
