A day at the Venice Film Festival75; a Coffee with Venezia da Vivere is starting again: photos, videos, what to do, which films to see and the events not to be missed in Venice
Venice. Late morning. We are about to sit down for a coffee after the first, very crowded, screening of First Man by Damien Chazelle, still dazed for waking up at down in this first morning of the seventy-fifth edition of the Venice Film Festival. Press passes, the program, our camera, paper and pen are on the table. And here we are ready to have a coffee with you and to suggest you things to do in these first days of opening of Venice75.
First of all the hashtags: #Venezia75 is the official one.
VeneziadaVivere will be following the events of the festival, the arrivals of the stars, the photocalls and films with a team of fabulous journalists and photographers, using the hashtag #Venezia75DaVivere.
To quickly capture the essence of the Festival
It is worth visiting the Hotel Des Bains of the Lido of Venice, where the photographic exhibition Il Cinema in Mostra was opened on 27th September: faces and images of the 1931-2018 International Film Festival.
Beautiful photographs from all the past editions of the Festival, with Stars of the past and the present, photos, movies and old posters. All this in the magical setting of the Hotel Des Bains, which reopens its outdoor spaces for this occasion, waiting for its restoration to start. The exhibition curated by the Director of Venice 2018 Alberto Barbera, will be open until 8th September.
The days flow between press conferences, photocalls and Red Carpet, but everyone is looking for Ryan Gosling
The discussions light up with the first film, Sulla Mia Pelle by Alessio Cremonini, with Alessandro Borghi, Jasmine Trinca, Max Tortora, and Milvia Marigliano. The film, which opens the Orizzonti section, narrates on the big screen the tragic story of Stefano Cucchi (Alessandro Borghi), who was arrested for a minor crime and died in prison a week later. The film will be showing at the cinema and it will be simultaneously broadcasted on Netflix from 12th September.
Everybody’s crazy for Ryan Gosling who arrives at the Darsena of the Casinò and smiles at our Manuela Salamone, dedicates time to the photographers at the photocall, our Cristina di Bella and Marta Formentello are there too, and then parades acclaimed (photo by Pietro Gallina) on the Red Carpet opening night with all the jurors of Venice75 (Guillermo del Toro, Christoph Waltz, Trine Dyrholm, Naomi Watts), the cast of the opening film First Man by Damien Chazelle and dozens of celebrities from all over the world, including the Argentinian model Georgina Rodriguez alongside her partner Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus’ new acquisition.
First Man by Damien Chazelle focuses on the figure of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. It could be one of the films of the year and it has the potential to compete for the Oscar award: it was produced by Steven Spielberg; the screenplay is by Josh Singer (The Spotlight case) and the music by Justin Hurwitz (La la land). Alongside Ryan Gosling there will be on screen Claire Foy (Golden Globe for the series The Crown), Kyle Martin Chandler (Manchester by the sea) the Australian Jason Clarke (Everest) and Ciaran Hinds (for the Harry Potter lovers he played ‘Aberforth Dumbledore’ in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’).
But the Film Festival is not just about movies: while film lovers begin to hunt for less known and more interesting films, others prefer to hunt for star autographs. For these we recommend to go to the Hotel Excelsior, where every year the Stars shine at the traditional Gala Dinner organized by the Venice Biennale. But this year no pictures can be taken! Bodyguards and signs prohibit disturbing the privacy of the guests relaxing on the terrace.
The evening continues in what will be the most coveted place of the next evenings: the Lexus Lounge on the seafront opposite the Casino, where tonight there will be the “Lexus Opening After Party Venice 75“, the theme is Omotenashi, the typical Japanese hospitality with gives attention to every single small detail.
If you want to get organized to try to take pictures at the glamorous parties of the Lido and Venice in the next days, here are the events to remember: the fourteenth edition of the charity party Diva and Donna for Cinema (August 30th – Hotel Centurion) organized by Tiziana Rocca; the private parties in honour of Matthias Schoenaerts for the film Freres Enemis (1st September) and Spike Lee and David Cronemberg (1st September – Hotel Centurion) and the exclusive Ciak party on 5th September on the Lido’s Biennial Terrace.
It’s also worth mentioning Franca Sozzani Award 2018 at Belmond Hotel Cipriani, 31st August
The photographer and director Francesco Carrozzini, son of the beloved director of Vogue Italia, will present the award to the Mexican actress and producer Salma Hayek.
The actress is committed to Venice with Yugen, a multimedia and technologically revolutionary project: the artistic film by Martha Fiennes is on screen on Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd September from 10 am to 7 pm at the Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi with a free admission until all the places are sold out.
It is now the evening of our opening day of the Festival, and it is time for a quiet aperitif, waiting for our Spritz with Venezia da Vivere.
While downloading the images of the day, including some of beauties on the water (Izabel Goulart, supermodel of Victoria’s Secret and actress of “Baywatch” by Seth Gordon photographed at the Excelsior by Massimo Peca), we are relaxing on the London Bar lounge terrace at the Hotel Londra Palace in Riva Schiavoni, where the legendary Marino Lucchetti proposes Lion 75th, a fresh pink long drink based on Vodka Gray Goose, Ginger, Mint and citrus, dedicated to the seventy-fifth edition of the Festival.
The London Bar is not the only cocktail bar in Venice that creates new cocktails in tribute to the Venice Film Festival: Alessandro Beggio, at the beautiful Time Social Bar in Cannaregio in Rio terà Farsetti has decided to revisit an old cocktail, the ‘Blood and Sand’ (Sangue e Arena) inspired by the famous film by Rodolfo Valentino, a film best known for its remake of 1941 with Rita Hayworth and Tyrone Power. The “remake” of the cocktail proposed by Alessandro is instead a twist of orange and cherry flavoured vermouth
To finish with a good vibe, Venice is offering us other surprises on the seventh art: in these days the casting for the new Marvel’s movie has taken place; the filming will start in Venice at the end of September. It’s Spider-Man: Far From Home by Jon Watts with Zendaya, Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei and Michael Keaton. For some of us it’s exciting to know that the great artist Antonio Cavazzano (Mickey Mouse) took part in the comic book version of the movie (The secret of glass).
Meanwhile, we are coming back to our coffees, getting ready to tell you what is happening in the coming days. See you soon!
Article by Pietro Gallina, cover photo and Izabel Goulart by Massimo Peca. The photos of the Photocall (Naomi Watts, Carolina Crescentini, Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave, Ryan Gosling and Clay Foy) are by Cristina di Bella, those by Ryan Gosling at the Darsena are by Manuela Salamone. The cocktails are by Pietro Gallina.
