Venice Film Festival - impressions, winners and worriess

When Venice Film Festival comes to an end, the Lido island is deserted leaving behind impressions and space for reflections.

Alberto Barbera's own reflections I had the chance to read in El Gazzetino, a very popular Venician daily. They did not surprise me, I had my own hesitations this year. While I love this festival, there are bad signs that the festival gets out of control. A big impact has the only 5 star hotel on the Lido, the Excelsior Hotel. The new management with GM Edwardo Brito has converted their hotel into a space of protection for their clientele, proctection from the outside world. The persona non grata are us, journalists like me and other festival participants which are not staying at their hotel. We are allowed to use the main entrance in order to access the hotel, but exit seems to be fine. The lobby, aswella the banks in the corridor are no longer accessible either. It feels rather like a carcel. Even when you are interviewing a director, he must be a hotel guest otherwise you not allowed to sit in the lobby, and even if this is the case and the director is staying at that hotel, he is asked to proove it. It's not fun anymore. 

To be continued!

Alice Kanterian 

This year prestigious