The
Venice Film Festival is always a most-buzzed-about affair. While it's not as popular as the Academy Awards or the Cannes Film Festival, it still gets its fair share of media attention and fanfare. And there's no doubt that the Venice Film Festival 2023 will be no different. Celebrating its 80th edition, it's bound to be as big and as glamorous as ever. Highly anticipated films like “Poor Things” and “Pricilla” will premiere at the event. You can also expect celebrities like Emma Stone and Adam Driver to grace the red carpet. And of course, there's no forgetting the fashion too. With so much to look forward to, it's hard not to get excited about the Venice Film Festival 2023.
The Festival's 80th Anniversary
One of the most notable things about the Venice Film Festival 2023 is that it's the event's 80th anniversary. Or at the very least, it 80th edition.
Venice had its first film festival back in 1932, but it wasn't until two years later, in 1934, that it became an annual event and a movie competition. Today, the Venice Film Festival is one of the oldest yearly global events of its kind. Not to mention the most famous part of La Biennale di Venezia, the city's annual art exhibition that began in 1893. The film festival serves as the event's film aspect.
Highlighting A Younger Perspective
Perhaps what's most notable about this year's Venice Film Festival is that it's set to highlight a younger perspective. The presidents of this year's international grand juries include directors Damien Chazelle, Alice Diop, and Jonas Carpignano. They're all fairly young considering how the film industry often reveres filmmakers of a certain age. Chazelle will only be 38 years old, Diop will only be 44 years old, and Carpignano will only be 39 years old by the time the festival takes place this August. So while they're not exactly juvenile, they'll still bring a younger perspective compared to the older film industry at large.
Source: Wikimedia Commons/ Gianni Torre
As for what Chazelle thinks of heading the grand jury this year, he remarked, “For ten days each year this city of the arts, of Tintoretto and Titian and Veronese, becomes a city of cinema, and I am humbled and delighted to be invited to lead this year’s jury. I can’t wait to discover a new crop of great films at the 80th Venice Film Festival.” Both Diop and Carpignano also released their own statements, both expressing their honor and gratitude for having been picked for such important roles during a milestone in the Venice Film Festival's history.
A Flurry of Hollywood Films
The Venice Film Festival has long served as the perfect avenue for Hollywood to premiere its latest releases. And this year's edition is no different. Among the most hotly anticipated movies that are likely to premiere at the Venice Film Festival 2023 is Yorgos Lanthimos'
“Poor Things” starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo. It's a surrealist sci-fi film based on a 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray. Sofia Coppola's “Pricilla” is also generating a lot of buzz as early as now. The upcoming biopic of Elvis Presley's late wife, Pricilla Presley, is right on the heels of Baz Luhrmann's own successful 'Elvis' biopic.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The Return of Great Directors
Lanthimos and Coppola aren't the only notable directors returning at the Venice Film Festival 2023. Richard Linklater, for example, is expected to premiere his newest film, “Hitman,” at Venice this year. It's an out-of-competition action-comedy release starring Glenn Powell, who plays an investigator who impersonates a hitman to try and catch the people trying to order a hit. Luca Guadagnino, a Venice Film Festival favorite, will also return. This time, he will premiere “Challengers” starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor. It's a coming-of-age drama where former friends and tennis rivals reunite and open up old wounds.
Lots of Red Carpet Glamour
With Hollywood comes with a lot of glamour and gloss. Just like
last year's festival and the Cannes Film Festival a couple of months ago, this year's event is bound to be a fashionable affair. You can expect countless A-list celebrities and supermodels to wear designer dresses on the red carpet. Be they
haute couture or off-the-rack, vintage or taken straight from the runway, there's no doubt that the Venice Film Festival 2023 will produce a flurry of fashion moments. Who could ever forget Zendaya's leather Balmain gown from 2021 or Timothée Chalamet's backless look from last year?
Don't miss the Venice Film Festival 2023. Not only does this year mark the festival's 80th anniversary, but the event will offer a lot of firsts and, of course, lots of great movies. It's among the most highly anticipated events of the year.
