L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 4 T he 83rd Mostra I n t e r - n a z i o n a l e d ' A r t e C i n e - m a t o g r a f i c a closed on the Lido on Sep- tember 12, with the Golden Lion going to Danish direc- t o r M a y e l - T o u k h y f o r W o m a n U n k n o w n . F o r eleven days, the familiar pro- cession of actors, directors, p h o t o g r a p h e r s a n d b o a t s moving between the lagoon, the hotels and the red carpet kept company to city and the public. American cinema was everywhere again, as it gen- erally is in Venice, but what we may be less familiar with is just how far back that con- nection goes, well beyond the arrival photographs that n o w f i l l n e w s p a p e r s a n d social media every Septem- ber. In fact, Hollywood was part of the reason the festival existed in the first place, and to understand why, we need to go all the way back to the e c o n o m i c c r i s i s o f 1 9 2 9 . During the 1920s, the Lido had established itself as one of Europe's fashionable sea- side resorts, built around grand hotels, and wealthy foreign visitors who popu- lated it during the summer season. When the Depres- s i o n e m p t i e d r o o m s a n d reduced that traffic, Venice began looking for something c a p a b l e o f b r i n g i n g r i c h international tourists back during the summer months. The answer, in 1932, was an exhibition devoted to cine- matographic art, organized under Biennale president Count Giuseppe Volpi di M i s u r a t a w i t h s c u l p t o r A n t o n i o M a r a i n i a n d Luciano De Feo, and held on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior. The three knew w e l l t h a t , i f t h e i d e a w a s partly to attract an interna- t i o n a l p u b l i c t o t h e L i d o again, the program needed films that an international public wanted to see, which inevitably meant looking t o w a r d H o l l y w o o d . S o , w h e n t h e f i r s t e d i t i o n o p e n e d o n A u g u s t 6 , t h e first film ever screened at a film festival was American: R o u b e n M a m o u l i a n ' s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, shown at a quarter past nine that evening. T h e r e w e r e n o o f f i c i a l prizes that year, because the Mostra had been conceived as an exhibition rather than a competition, nor was there a jury in the form we would recognize today, as it was the audience to fill in the v o t i n g c a r d s . W h e n t h e r e s u l t s w e r e c o u n t e d , Fredric March and Helen Hayes, both American, had been chosen as best actor and actress, but the pro - gram itself was much broad- er, with filmmakers includ- ing René Clair and Soviet director Nikolai Ekk. Yet, the importance of American cinema was evident from t h e b e g i n n i n g . A r o u n d 2 5 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e a t t e n d e d during those first weeks, the hotels filled again, and with- i n a f e w e d i t i o n s G r e t a G a r b o , C l a r k G a b l e a n d J a m e s C a g n e y h a d a l l b e c o m e p a r t o f t h e L i d o scene. This long-lasting connec- tion was still easy to see this year, particularly on Sep- t e m b e r 2 , w h e n G e o r g e Clooney received the Gold- e n L i o n f o r L i f e t i m e A c h i e v e m e n t f r o m L a u r a Dern, who stepped in after Brad Pitt, originally expect- ed to present it, was unable to attend because of work commitments. "I have lived a great many extraordinary m o m e n t s i n V e n i c e , " Clooney said. "The Mostra is without doubt my favorite festival." He also joked that a lifetime award was proba- bly evidence that he was get- ting old, which, he added, was perfectly fine with him. Indeed, there is enough h i s t o r y b e h i n d C l o o n e y ' s c o m m e n t f o r i t t o s o u n d truly authentic, if you think t h a t h e f i r s t c a m e t o t h e L i d o i n 1 9 9 8 w i t h O u t o f S i g h t a n d h a s r e t u r n e d m a n y t i m e s s i n c e , w i t h Good Night and Good Luck, Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading, and other films. And then, there is his openly d e c l a r e d l o v e f o r I t a l y , which extends well beyond cinema: he married Amal A l a m u d d i n i n V e n i c e i n 2014 and, after buying Villa Oleandra in Laglio on Lake Como, began spending long periods of his summers in the country. At his masterclass the fol- lowing day, he mentioned almost in passing that he is preparing a television series which he believes will be filmed partly in Venice, with s o m e w o r k e x p e c t e d t o begin next year. Given how l o n g t h e L i d o h a s b e e n bringing American actors a n d d i r e c t o r s t o I t a l y , i t seems only fair that one of those actors is now planning to bring a production back. Clooney is, of course, only the latest American film- Venice and Hollywood: 94 years of movie magic, stars, and unforgettable encounters FRANCESCA BEZZONE NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS CONTINUED TO PAGE 6 Arrivals by boat and the red carpet have become part of the visual identity of the Venice Film Festival, where cinema and the city have met for nearly a century (Original image created for L'Italo- Americano with the assistance of AI)

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