L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 4 BARBARA MINAFRA NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS I t is the oldest cinema event in the world after the Oscars. Its 76 editions do not only show the way con- temporary visual arts evolved, but also how men and women of all cultures and nation- alities described their vision of the world and their life philoso- phy, they expressed their feel- ings, shared ideas and provoked reactions. Without forgetting about its glamorous side, heart and root of contemporary pop culture, but also walking and talking narrative of our times. All this, we could call it emo- tion telling. Everyone of us, cine- ma says, is and has a story to tell, and everyone one of us is a sto- ryteller. Stories are the way we explore the places and people around us, they are the way we communicate with each other, whether we try to persuade, inspire or entertain. We are all part of this creative process, in all possible roles: main actors, walk-ons, audience. This is what the Venice Film Festival has been for the past 76 years, a wonderful catwalk where directors, screenwriters, actors and actresses, producers and distributors bring us an eclectic and articulate program telling the story of societies and cultures, foreign universes and psychological microcosmos. And it's all about cinema, about its "continuous process of change, at the end of which — Festival director Alberto Barbera says — we'll find it different from how we've known and loved it so far, but always vital and alive, always carrying new instances, languages and forms we'll get used to quickly, in a fashion typi- cal of our times." In Italy, where everything is steeped in history and tradition, cinema can't free itself from the past easily though. We only need to think the Festival's first edi- tion in 1932 was so successful that in 1935 it had already become a yearly appointment. The first Esposizione Inter- nazionale d'Arte Cinematografi- ca was part of the 18th Biennale di Venezia where, since 1895 and every two years, the Venice International Art Expo was orga- nized with the aim of stimulating art production and commerce in the city. It presented important movies soon to become classics in the history of cinema, like Frank Capra's It Happened one Night or James Whale's Frankenstein. The most impor- tant stars of their time, from Greta Garbo to Clarke Gable, from John Barrymore to Joan Crawford, all the way to our own Vittorio De Sica, attracted more than 25,000 spectators to the lagoon. A sensational success for those times. In Venice, movies immedi- ately went hand in hand with mundanity. The first movie to be shown at the Festival was Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, on the 6th of August 1932. Afterwards, the glamorous ball organized at the Excelsior Hotel was a spectacu- lar showcase of elegance. The terrace of this famous hotel on the venetian Lido — that thin, 12 km long island stretching between the lagoon and the Adri- atic Sea — has been one of the event's trendiest and most fash- ionable locations, so much so it'd be impossible to say how many stars have set foot on its famous pier. Venice's relationship with the silver screen is truly osmotic, it's a give and take similar to the tides that keep the fragile balance of the lagoon alive. It's a spec- tacular stage for participating movies, but also for Venice's own breathtaking beauty and for her uniqueness, which attracts millions of tourists every year. When the curtain eventually closes on the Lido, we don't only get the feeling something is amiss; we don't only see empty a magic box once filled with end- Continued to page 6 Paolo Baratta (left), president of the Biennale and Alberto Barbera (right), director of the Venice Film Festival (Credits: La Biennale di Venezia) 76th Venice Film Festival: a red carpet for Venezia

• Cover