This year's edition of the Venice Film Festival may have featured a reduced schedule because of Coronavirus, but there were powerful films in the programme. Tonight the Golden Lion for Best Film went to Chloe Zhao's "Nomadland", starring Frances McDormand.
This on the road story follows the main character Fern (Frances McDormand), who, after losing everything in the recession, packs her van and turns into a a modern-day nomad (the film features real nomads as well).
Frances McDormand and director Chloe Zhao appeared via video link from the United States to accept the award (check out the awarding ceremony around 01:09:49 to watch the message), as, like many other filmmakers and actors, they couldn't reach Venice because of the COVID-19 restrictions.
For what regards some of the other awards, British actor Vanessa Kirby won best lead actress for "Pieces of a Woman", Pierfrancesco Fabino won best lead actor for "Padrenostro" (Our Father), and Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for best director for "Wife of a Spy", while the Silver Lion grand jury prize went to Michel Franco for "New Order".
While some film festivals such as Cannes were cancelled and others like Toronto and New York opted to go digital, the organisers of the Biennale Cinema in Venice went ahead (with very strict safety measures), as a sign of rebirth and to send a message of encouragement to the entertainment industry (the theatre, dance and music biennale will also go ahead in Venice in September and October).
As the 77th Venice International Film Festival closed, organisers invited audiences to next year's festival, and it is only natural to wonder if, by then, the Coronavirus emergency will be over.
While we hope that in 2021 Coronavirus will just be a bad memory, let's step back to September 1949 when several fashion houses from Rome, Milan, Turin and Great Britain as well presented their Autumn/Winter collections at the Hotel Excelsior in Venice with a lavish Ballo della Moda (Fashion Ball). The event coincided with the film festival and quite a few celebrities went to see the runway.
At the ball there were indeed also Simone Simon and Isa Miranda (see vintage pictures in this post) who were in town to present "Donne senza nome" (Women Without Names - you can expect a remake of this film at some point...) directed by Géza von Radványi and "Patto col diavolo" by Luigi Chiarini. In the final picture in this post there is a design by Biki, an evening gown in white rayon tulle with an embroidered bustier. The gown was part of the collections presented to the audience of the 1949 fashion ball in Venice. What will next year's edition of the Venice Film Festival be like and will it ever be accompanied again by a fashion ball? Only time will tell.
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