Alberto Barbera Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is refusing to row back on his decision to invite controversial movie-biz bigwigs Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson to the late summer event, which will take place despite the potential disruption by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. “Luc Besson has been recently fully cleared of any accusations. Woody Allen went under legal scrutiny twice at the end of the ’90s and was absolved,” Barbera said in a new interview with Variety.

Venice Film Festival head Alberto Barbera spoke with Deadline soon after revealing his latest stellar lineup, including movies from David Fincher, Michael Mann, Bradley Cooper, Pablo Larrain, Sofia Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos and Ava DuVernay.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is in a good mood after Tuesday’s lineup announcement managed to stave off the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike, something which could have been “devastating” to the event, he says. In the end, the only U.S. film that skipped the Lido is Luca Guadagnino’s Zendaya-starrer “Challengers,” which Barbera says was against Guadagnino’s wishes.

The Venice Film Festival confirmed to us today it is hopeful that movies with SAG-AFTRA ‘interim agreements’ will bring their casts to the Lido.

Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera has shown once again that he is not scared to court controversy.

Refresh for latest…: Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera is announcing the lineup for the event’s 80th edition this morning. We’ll be updating the list as the films are revealed, so check back for more below. You can also watch the livestream here.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 80th Venice Film Festival is announcing its lineup on Tuesday from the Italian city, where artistic director Alberto Barbera and La Biennale president Roberto Cicutto are holding a press conference. The Lido’s only previously announced titles in the main selection are the opener, Italian director Edoardo De Angelis’ “Comandante” — a lavish anti-war epic featuring local star Pierfrancesco Favino as a heroic Sicilian World War II naval officer — and the closer, Netflix’s survival thriller “Society of the Snow” by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona. “Comandante” replaced Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, which had previously been set as the fest’s buzzy opener but was pulled due to promotional complications prompted by the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The Venice Film Festival will announce the lineup for its 80th edition Tuesday at 11 a.m. European time (3 a.m. PT/6 a.m. ET). Venice Artistic Director Alberto Barbera will be joined by Biennale President Roberto Cicutto to reveal this year’s titles.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival. The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday. “The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.

wouldn’t they do that?”  As of press time on Thursday, the studios’ festival gameplan is still unclear. Sources indicate there are ongoing discussions about pulling films from fall festivals entirely and moving their release dates. Alternately, if festival premieres are maintained, they’ll likely happen without the support of their actors. For Venice — a festival recognized for its mega-watt star power and glitzy red carpets — this is going to hurt.  “The titles around Venice are star-driven,” said one senior PR source. “You need the actor shots for Venice because there are famous photos of them coming in on the boats, and it’s such an important platform for future awards titles. A lot of the competition titles are director-driven, so it wouldn’t necessarily affect the films’ awards future, but it would lose some of that glamor,” the PR added.   A U.S.-based industry veteran predicted optimistically that, unlike the WGA strike, the actors strike could be resolved in as early as a few weeks, but that “it’s still going to be a total shit show at Venice and Toronto.”    “I wouldn’t want to be Alberto Barbera trying to put together the lineup right now,” they noted.   For Venice, it’s shaping up to be a wait-and-see situation. “We hope that, in the interests of the entire audio-visual industry, the parties will reach an agreement quickly,” the fest’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, said in a statement. But the prospects that the SAG-AFTRA strike will subside before the Lido launches are grim. 

Italy’s 01 Distribution has announced a September 28 release for Roman Polanski’s new feature The Palace, fueling speculation that the film will world premiere at the upcoming edition of the Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Roman Polanski’s “The Palace” has been set for release in Italian theatres in September, prompting speculation that the controversial director’s black comedy set in a posh hotel in the Swiss Alps resort of Gstaad on the eve of the new millennium could be launching from the Venice Film Festival. Italy’s RAI Cinema, which is a main backer of Polanski’s new film, has slated a September 28 local release date via its 01 Distribuzione unit for “The Palace” which has an ensemble cast including Mickey Rourke, John Cleese and Fanny Ardant. Other key cast members include German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”); Portugal’s Joaquin De Almeida; the U.K.’s Bronwyn James (“The Dig”) and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy will be the “Country of Focus” at the European Film Market In Berlin in 2024, reflecting the current flourish of the Italian film and TV industry and its growing international relevance and ambition. The spotlight on Italy during the EFM will highlight the work of Italian filmmakers and offer an opportunity to network with local producers, distributors, investors and experts. The official agreement was signed at Cannes in the Italian Pavillion by Berlinale managing director Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Roberto Stabile, head of special projects of Italy’s general directorate for cinema. Also on hand were EFM director Dennis Ruh, Nicola Borrelli, head of the film department of Italy’s culture ministry, and Venice fest chief Alberto Barbera.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Yes, the Cannes Film Festival has only just started. But Hollywood is already quietly planning for the Venice Film Festival lineup, as the unofficial launch of awards season in late August is starting to shape up with several high-profile titles, Variety has learned. Among the films in contention to bow on the Lido: Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ surrealist science-fiction romance “Poor Things,” with Emma Stone and Marc Ruffalo, among entries believed to be locked-in for a Venice launch. Zendaya was last in Venice in 2021 with “Dune,” but Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, which has an early November launch date, is not expected to follow suit to the fest.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed that Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated “Killers of the Flower Moon” will world premiere on the Croisette. The event will mark Scorsese’s first time presenting a film at Cannes since winning best director for “After Hours” in 1986. The festival has not yet specified whether the film will play in or out of competition. The Apple original film brings together a starry cast, led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion and Tantoo Cardinal. All of them are expected to hit the red carpet, along with additional cast and members of the filmmaking team, the festival said. The movie’s premiere is set for May 20, which falls on a Saturday, at the prestigious Grand Théâtre Lumière.

EXCLUSIVE: Venice Film Festival, Netflix and The Gotham Film & Media Institute are teaming up on a program of movies at iconic New York venue, the Paris Theater. Scroll down for program lineup in full.

The Venice Film Festival has set filmmaker Liliana Cavani and actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai to receive this year’s Golden Lions for lifetime achievement. The 80th Venice fest runs from August 30-September 9 on the Lido.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival will honor “The Night Porter” director Liliana Cavani and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star of “In the Mood for Love” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” with its 2023 Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement. Cavani first attended Venice in 1965 with the historical doc “Philippe Pétain: Processo a Vichy,” which won the Lion of San Marco for best documentary. She was back the Lido in 1966 with her TV movie “Saint Francis of Assisi,” and, again, in 1968, with “Galileo,” followed by Patricia Highsmith adaptation “Ripley’s Game,” starring John Malkovich, in 2002 and “Clarisse,” a doc about an order of cloistered nuns in 2012.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is eyeing a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, potentially giving the annual celebration of cinema one of the glitziest red carpet bows of its eight-decade history. The Apple movie, which was pursued by both Venice and Cannes toppers, may ultimately be unveiled in the South of France. Of course, there could still be a last minute change of plans by the time the lineup is unveiled in April, but it’s looking promising enough that Scorsese is even rumored to have reserved a suite at one of the posh hotels along the Croisette. Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ director, is preparing a massive 2023 edition and traveled to L.A. earlier this month to screen Scorsese’s movie and discuss other potential Hollywood titles. Alberto Barbera, Venice’s artistic director, was in town at the same time taking meetings with studio bosses, which led to an awkward situation even though they didn’t bump into each other, according to an industry insider.

A platoon of titles hits the specialty circuit this weekend, getting in ahead of steamroller Avatar: Way of Water and the year-end deadline for Oscar eligibility. This is a soul-searching, what-lies-ahead moment for a market still much too inconsistent for comfort, but that can be pondered later. At the moment, indie distributors are quite busy “with all these movies, and these plans to release theatrically. We are not going anywhere,” said one executive.

Kendall Jenner posed for a photo on Instagram while relaxing in a Remedy Place ice bath.Elsa Hosk and PICTICULAR hosted a VIP cocktail event during the Venice Film Festival at the Hotel Excelsior pool deck to honor Alberto Barbera, Creative Director of Venice Festival.Olivia Wilde wore the Ray-Ban Original Wayfarer Classic while out and about in Spain and New York City during the press tour for her film . Doja Cat wore a suit and a pointed platform heel by Steve Madden to the Daily Front Row Fashion Media Awards during New York Fashion Week.Rita Ora wore Betsey Johnson Cady Rhinestones Booties to the Zurich Open Air Festival in Switzerland. Patty Jenkins, Alexandra Shipp, Dianna Agron, Jennifer Morrison, Minnie Mills and Thuso Mbedu came together to support the 8th annual Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program Luncheon at Locanda Verde in New York City. Gigi Hadid wore a red Simon Miller set to the U.S. Open in Flushing, New York. Whitney Port wore sunglasses from DMY BY DMY while posing for a picture on Instagram.Jennifer Lopez stunned in a green halter maxi dress by Cult Gaia and the Minel Sandal from JLO Jennifer Lopez while shopping with her daughter Emme at the Melrose Trading Post in Los Angeles, California. Andrew Garfield wore Zayn x Arnette sunglasses to the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California.Elyse Walker and Emily P.

Marta Balaga Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut, dedicated to films in post-production from African and Arab countries, wrapped its anniversary 10th edition on Sept. 5. As fest director Alberto Barbera welcomed the audience to “the final stage of the Final Cut,” La Biennale di Venezia Prize – and cash award of € 5,000 – went to “Inshallah a Boy,” directed by Amjad Al Rasheed. Jurors Claire Diao, Rasha Salti and Gaetano Maiorino praised it for “brilliant direction and performances, tackling a really dramatic social issue and for honoring the resilience of women in a conservative context.” The film, a co-production between Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is overseen by Rula Nasser for The Imaginarium Films.

Naman Ramachandran The Unifrance cocktail event at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, held in partnership with Variety, saw a heady mix of film executives and artists mingle at the sea terrace of the plush Excelsior hotel. Presiding over proceedings was Unifrance executive director Daniela Elstner and artists present included director Romain Gavras and actor Ouassini Embarek, whose film “Athena” is in the main competition at the festival. Also attending were actor Swann Arlaud, César winner for “Bloody Milk” and “By the Grace of God,” who is at Venice with his new film “Beating Sun,” by Philippe Petit, who was also present; and filmmaker Audrey Diwan, who won the Venice Golden Lion last year for “Happening” and is serving on the jury this year.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Iranian cinema is having a great year despite the many impediments film directors face there, including being jailed. Reflecting this burst of irrepressible cinematic energy, after strong showing of Iranian cinema at Berlin, Cannes and Karlovy Vary, Venice has five films from the country, two of which are in competition. Also, Leila Hatami, star of Cannes festival jurist Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation,” is a member of Venice’s main jury panel. “We have never received so many submissions from Iran, and many of them are good,” says Venice chief Alberto Barbera. He notes that “the paradox is that this is happening at a time when the Iranian regime is among the most rigidly conservative and repressive in the world,” and is responding to uprisings sparked by the country’s harsh economic conditions by re-incarcerating directors such as Jafar Panahi, whose latest film “No Bears” launches from Venice, fellow dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, and others “who try to freely express their opposing points of view.”

detained by the Iranian government last month. Rasoulof, who is the director of the Berlin Golden Bear winner “There Is No Evil,” was arrested alongside fellow filmmaker Mostafa Aleahmad for posting on social media and participating in protests over a building that had collapsed in the city of Abadan in May.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent On July 26, the day the Venice lineup was announced, my 14-year-old daughter Emma started hounding me that I had to take her on the red carpet to see Timothée Chalamet. Eventually, I relented, even though I thought the movie, “Bones and All” — about two cannibals who fall in love — would be too gory for her. So we struck a compromise: We’d try to meet Chalamet (or “Timmy,” as he’s called) without going inside to see the film. So there we were — Emma; her friend Nina, 13; and me — on a balmy late afternoon in a small reserved spot for journalists behind the red carpet, opposite the fans, waiting for our A-list sighting. And for a while it was pretty boring. The girls spotted “Outer Banks” star Chase Stokes; YouTuber Emma Chamberlain; Simone Ashley, whom they known from “Bridgerton,” and Italy’s Luca Argentero who stars in the local medical procedural “Doc.” For me the most exciting thing was seeing Venice chief Alberto Barbera’s gorgeous newborn baby daughter Thea, brought out on the red carpet by a nanny to get her first taste of stratospheric stardust, just like Emma.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Italian film industry is in a paradoxical state: production is booming but box office is bust. Italy’s five features vying for a Venice Golden Lion – plus a myriad more scattered in other Lido sections – reflect cinema Italiano’s current creative vibrancy, if you look at the cream of the crop; however, the average quality is not that great. On the plus side, the country is making a quantum leap forward in terms of the global visibility of its movies just as the number of Italian directors considered bankable in Hollywood, such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino and Stefano Sollima (“Without Remorse”), to name but a few, is growing.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Italian film industry is in a paradoxical state: production is booming but box office is bust. Italy’s five features vying for a Venice Golden Lion – plus a myriad more scattered in other Lido sections – reflect cinema Italiano’s current creative vibrancy, if you look at the cream of the crop; however, the average quality is not that great. On the plus side, the country is making a quantum leap forward in terms of the global visibility of its movies just as the number of Italian directors considered bankable in Hollywood, such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino and Stefano Sollima (“Without Remorse”), to name but a few, is growing.

Venice Film Festival officially kicked off the fall Oscar race on Thursday afternoon with Todd Field’s “Tár,” a drama starring Cate Blanchett as a famous composer embroiled in a public scandal. The film was showered with an ecstatic six-minute standing ovation as the crowds at the Sala Grande Theatre kept chanting “Bravo!“ even surprising Blanchett at times.As Venice chief Alberto Barbera took her hand, Blanchett bowed — but the clapping went on. When the applause finally ended, a misty-eyed Blanchett turned to someone on her team and said: “Let’s get a drink.”Surely, Blanchett’s work in “Tár” will be one of the most toasted performances of Oscar season. The rave reviews for the film all but guarantee the actor, who has two Academy Awards acting wins, will land her eight Oscar acting nomination this winter.

Marta Balaga Final Cut, a workshop supporting films in post-production from African and Arab countries – launched by the Venice Film Festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge – celebrates its 10th anniversary this week. Its goals have remained the same, however, as it continues to provide emerging filmmakers with concrete assistance as well as visibility, all the while strengthening Venice’s role as “bridge builder,” says Alessandra Speciale, its curator. The final selection features titles made by directors from nine different countries: Algeria, Jordan, Guinea, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Central African Republic and Tunisia.