Venice Film Festival

Isabella Carbonell’s Dogborn tells the story of refugee twins, a woman (Silvana Imam) and her brother (Philip Oros), who are homeless and living rough in Sweden. It is obvious that they have traumatic experiences in the past: the brother has not spoken, since they arrived in Sweden and the sister is a loose cannon who freaks out when under pressure.

From Noah Baumbach to Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Timothée Chalamet to Sigourney Weaver and a jury headed by Julianne Moore, the 79th edition of the Venice Festival is shaping up to be just as grand as its pre-pandemic versions.

Joker sought to add to its Venice momentum with the North American premiere at TIFF. Todd Phillips’ deep dive into a super villain hinges on Joaquin Phoenix’s tour de force performance and is part origin story part psychological horror which pushes the anti-hero envelope by eliciting an uncomfortable empathy from audiences for an “indefensible” protagonist.

Neutrals ruled, while men went colorful.

Nate Parker’s new film is a lesson in race relations in a country with a current government that is not famous for knowing or caring much about this topic. Police brutality is as much on the rise as school shootings.

The Lido was alive with the sound of her speaking voice: Dame Julie Andrews, the daughter of two English vaudeville performers who played her first part when she was four, received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Acting from the Venice Film Festival and held a master class that was not so much a class as an extended interview about her past and even more so her future. The 83-year old said she “was just the lucky girl who was asked to play all those wonderful roles” and they clearly keep on coming.

Stars were out and so was the sun – for once! The HFPA Reception has become a Venice film Festival tradition, undaunted by the downpours which had dogged the event in recent years. This year the sun shone bright, however, as festivalgoers, industry types and filmmakers converged poolside at the Excelsior Hotel.

Despite the Venice heat, oodles of material offset the sheath. Trousers also popped up, while men stayed classic.

Any major festival worthy of the name has its controversies and this year’s Mostra del Cinema (the official name of the Venice Festival) has Roman Polanski. Ever since the selection of his J’Accuse was announced last month in the official competition, it has predictably been controversial.

The stars are starting to blossom on the Lido carpet like blooms in spring. Tight tubes of material were the preference, with belts becoming a thing.