Venice's Mostra Internazionale d'arte Cinematografica is rapidly becoming the most glamorous festival this side of Cannes. Moving Pictures speaks to outgoing festival director Gillo Pontecorvo about this year's line-up
Last year, when Crimson Tide star Denzel Washington arrived at the Venice Film Festival in a submarine specially hired from the Italian Navy, it was apparent that festival director Gillo Pontecorvo's attempts at re-establishing Venice's links with Hollywood had been a triumphant success.
Not only Washington, but a host of other stars emerged on the Lido, all of them eager to promote big budget US movies pencilled in for autumn release across Europe. Flashing away behind them came the paparazzi. Suddenly, Venice seemed more glamorous than it had in decades.
With Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich and Christopher Walken all expected at this year's festival, the Hollywood invasion shows little sign of abating. However, Pontecorvo gives short shrift to the idea that Venice is turning into a colonial outpost at which US Majors can showcase their autumn wares.
'That is stupidity we like the great American movies just as we dislike the mediocre ones.' Thanks to Hollywood star power, he believes the festival is attracting a new audience, especially among young filmgoers: 'We do it because people come to see these kinds of films. But once they're here, they may also go to screenings of films they would probably never see in normal circumstances. Or maybe they'll go to a theatre in which there is a symposium about the problems facing cinema.
It is important to elevate the profile of cinema; to bring people here and to allow them to see films they like. It's very useful to create a new audience.' Festival vice-director Giorgio Gosetti also plays down the importance of the 'American influence', pointing out that the US films in this year's competition (which include Julian Schnabel's Basquiat and Abel Ferrara's The Funeral) can hardly be described as studio blockbusters. Even in the Venetian Nights section, in which there will be special screenings of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day and Tony Scott's The Fan, among others, the aim is 'to find different conceptions of popular cinema' rather than simply to promote Hollywood.
By the same token, there is no special favouritism toward European cinema. 'We trust in European cinema and the programme this year is very useful for presenting their work. But if you consider the entire programme, you'll also find we have a lot of films coming from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. We don't think in terms of a struggle for or against America. All the filmmakers are present at the same time, hopefully to discuss and support each other.' Gosetti denies that Italian filmmakers will be overshadowed, emphasising that they too can benefit from an autumn showcase. 'We feel that the week dedicated to Italian cinema is the strongest in our five years.'
This will be Pontecorvo's fifth and final Venice as director before he returns to making his own movies. (In his capacity as a filmmaker, he won a Golden Lion himself back in the 60s for The Battle of Algiers.) 'We have made a lot of mistakes,' he acknowledges, 'but there are three or four things we have done which are useful for our festival and for the movie business in general.'
He lists these as Venice's rapprochement with American cinema; its commitment to young people ('Every year, we invite the 300 winners of a student essay competition to the festival to meet people like Malle, Scorsese and Altman'); its Window On Images section ('We show everything from documentaries to animation, from fiction films to the tests that the great directors made for famous films') and the use of the festival as a forum for filmmakers.
This year, Venice is organising a debate on 'The Cinema In The Third Millennium': academics, economists and filmmakers will be invited to ponder how cinema can 'preserve its precious identity' in the face of challenges posed by the new visual media. Pontecorvo sets great store by this symposium: 'I believe it will be the soul of the festival.' He and Gosetti also hope that an innovative use of television will help transform communication at the festival. 'Rather than just using it for announcements and reviews, we want it to be like the Greek agora a place in the town where everyone can present some subjects, discuss some problems, and ask some questions.'
As ever, there are one or two films which the festival programmers were keen to include which have fallen by the wayside. 'Every time you draw up a programme for a festival,' explains Gosetti, 'there are bound to be certain films not ready on time.' The new Woody Allen project won't be screening. Nor, unless it turns up at the last minute, will David Lynch's Lost Highway. Still, Gosetti is pleased with this year's selection. Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Loach, Claude Lelouch and Volker Schlöndorff are among the big-name auteurs with films in competition. Not that past pedigree counts for much at Venice: many recent winners have been comparative newcomers.
Milcho Manchevski's Before The Rain, a first feature, won a Golden Lion in 1994 while Tran Anh Hung's Cyclo, a second feature, was among the prizes last year. Gosetti believes there is plenty of exciting young talent on display this time round. Tyro filmmakers likely to make an impression include Julian Schnabel (Basquiat), Nien-Jen (Buddha Bless America) and Italian hope, Antonio Capuano (Pianese Nunzio 14 anni a maggio).
As if to remind festival goers that Independence Day isn't the only face of American filmmaking, Venice is also paying tribute to '50 years of counterculture' in 'The Beat Goes On'. This intriguing sidebar encompasses B-movies (Roger Corman's Bucket Of Blood), documentaries about Kerouac, Ginsberg and co, and work from experimental filmmakers, including Shirley Clarke, Jonas Mekas and Stan Brakhage. 'It's a strange retrospective, maybe unique, which also features completely new films and unfinished films. For instance, Timothy Leary's Dead is a premiere, Beat Daddies is a premiere, and even Grace Of My Heart is completely new for the screens.'
To accompany the screenings, there will be a special 'Beat' event on the stage, featuring Rachel McClure, Vittorio Gassman and various other performers and artists. Two old questions are asked every Venice will the festival ever break from the shackles of the Biennale and go it alone, and will it ever develop a market? As usual, nobody knows. Gosetti argues that Venice is 'not a good place for a normal market' and shouldn't even attempt to compete with Mifed.
What it does offer is, 'a forum for independent producers, directors and distributors, especially European ones, to meet.' High-ranking Italian politicians are due in Venice to unveil new plans for the Biennale, but 'we really don't know anything about their intentions.' In the meantime, expect a pair of middle-aged British pop stars to steal the limelight. David Bowie (who plays Andy Warhol in Basquiat) and Peter Gabriel (appearing in a short in the 'Window On Images' section) are likely to occupy this year's paparazzi.
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