Venice Film Festival 2016 Low-Down
The oldest Film Festival in Europe has rolled out its red carpet for the 73rd time this year. While being loosely referred to as Venice Film Festival, it officially runs under the umbrella of Biennale di Venezia and is not located on the Venice mainland.
Getting around Venice Film Festival
Anyone wishing to attend should undertake the travel to neighbouring Lido island. People on a budget will get there using water transport and those who prefer travelling with comfort can transport their fiery Lamborghini to Lido, also by water. But at least you will have aircon. But even if you take a standard Vaporetto, be prepared to spend 20 Euro a day for your travel. Who said that London transport was expensive?
Venice Film Festival gossip
Those who prefer travelling with comfort can transport their fiery Lamborghini to Lido, also by water. But at least you will have aircon.
The Venice Film Festival is by far less eventful than Cannes Film Festival which is the biggest in the world, but even the main highlight of the festival, the official opening gala dinner and cocktail party at the Excelsior Hotel beach were cancelled due to the official mourning of the recent earthquake in Amatrice. Despite this, the lavish La La Land after party was held at the Excelsior hotel, with all the main cast promptly attending.
The warm PDA by Amy Adams in the middle of the red carpet got applauded by hundreds of viewers. Her object of affection, however, wasn’t just random somebody but her partner Darren De Gallo.
Another great news comes from Natalie Portman who showed her bump as she’s expecting baby number two; unless it was a plate of pasta Carbonara of course, with a 10 Oz stake, dolce, and couple of pounds of gelato for lunch?
Red carpet Fashion at the Venice Film Festival 2016
International Festivals and Gala evenings are favourites among world-renowned designers. Big labels take special pride in tweeting photos of A-listers wearing their attires – an excellent way to improve exposure and gain new fans and loyal customers.
The 73rd Venice Film Festival was a festival of highs and extreme lows. The LBD –Little Black Dress– was again the top favourite among many celebrities. Gemma Arterton in long Stella McCartney gown was probably my personal favourite. While Emma Stone’s ‘mermaid’ silver dress from Versace left me completely cold.
Another ‘mermaid’ dress – this time golden frock by Tom Ford – was wrapping curves of Amy Adams during the Nocturnal Animals screening.
Considering that the director of Nocturnal Animals is Tom Ford himself, the choice of a gown came as no surprise. Though I would like to see a better fit – with a defined waist, to reveal her lovely curves. We know Tom Ford has plenty of those in his – sacred for every fashionista – workshop.
But the lowest of the low was by far the repulsing appearance of two obviously ‘desperate for attention’ models. They decided that it might be a great idea to insult the oldest Film Festival in Europe by flashing their most private parts to the worldwide media during The Young Pope premiere, starring Jude Law. Not so private, then. I must say that Jude Law’s acting skills were somewhat overlooked thanks to this cheap, crass, stunt.
One model flashed the flesh in an extravagant pink frock slashed down her silver waist belt that fell off her shoulders with giant puff-ball sleeves. Meanwhile, another model wore a revealing deep plunge orange dress of similar design and showed off her visible bikini tan line. Cheap and nasty. I bet the cleaners, who were sweeping sick from the press centre floor after the premiere, weren’t very impressed either.
All prizes and awards at Venice Film Festival 2016
- Persol Tribute to Visionary Talent Award 2016: Liev Schreiber, The Bleeder
- Golden Lion: The Woman Who Left, Lav Diaz
- Grand Jury Prize: Nocturnal Animals, dir: Tom Ford
- Silver Lion, Best Director: Amat Escalante, La Region Salvaje; Andrei Konchalovsky, Paradise
- Volpi Cup, Best Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land
- Volpi Cup, Best Actor: Oscar Martinez, El Ciudadano Ilustre
- Best Screenplay: Noah Oppenheim, Jackie
- Special Jury Prize: The Bad Batch, dir: Ana Lily Amirpour
- Marcello Mastroianni Award for for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Paula Beer, Frantz
VENICE HORIZONS
- Best Film: Liberami, dir: Federica Di Giacomo
- Best Director: Fien Troch, Home
- Special Jury Prize: Big Big World, dir: Reha Erdem
- Best Actress: Ruth Diaz, The Fury Of A Patient Man
- Best Actor: Nuno Lopes, Sao Jorge
- Best Screenplay: Wang Bing, Bitter Money
- Best Short Film: La Voz Perdida, dir: Marcelo Martinessi
- Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis”
- Venice Award for a Debut Film: The Last Of Us, dir: Ala Eddine Slim
VENICE CLASSICS
- Best Restoration: Break-Up – The Man With The Balloons, dir: Marco Ferreri
- Best Documentary on Cinema: Le Concours, dir: Claire Simon
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
