The 83rd Venice International Film Festival kicks off today. And there couldn’t have been a better start with the Lido of Venice which will be almost entirely monopolized by the arrival of George Clooney, who will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in the evening.
The festival will open with «Ink» by Danny Boyle, presented as a world premiere and in competition, with Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy. The traditional press conference of the international jury is scheduled for the morning, chaired by the American director and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, flanked by Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Kaouther Ben Hania, Shahrbanou Sadat and Johnnie To.
The highlight of the day (in addition to the arrival of Clooney, who arrived in Venice with his wife Amal yesterday afternoon) will be the opening ceremony, broadcast live on Rai Movie and streaming on RaiPlay starting at 6.45 pm and hosted by the actress and director Greta Scarano together with the actor Nicolas Maupas. Following her at the Palazzo del Casino will be, among others, the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, the President of the Veneto Region, Alberto Stefani, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture with responsibility for Cinema, Lucia Borgonzoni.
During the ceremony there will be the awarding of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to one of the most beloved stars of American cinema, George Clooney. Delivery which will be preceded by the “laudatio” of the American actress Laura Dern.
The official start of the screenings will be “Ink” by Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “28 Years Later”), the opening film of the competition which tells the story of the acquisition of the Sun by Rupert Murdoch and the entrusting of the management of the newspaper to Larry Lamb in 1969.
Last night, at the traditional pre-opening, there was a screening of the film, restored in 4K, «With the heart in your throat» (1967) by Tinto Brass, presented with the support of Netflix.