There’s a curious parallel between the heavy rain of yesterday morning and the creeping fear that, despite the efforts to set up a very complicated physical Mostra Internazionale dell’Arte Cinematografica dodging Covid’s threats, the much-feared second week of the festival could have gone desert. On the contrary, the sun shone from mid-morning drying puddles and the streets got crowded – even surprisingly – of students, visitors, cinema lovers. Theaters were filled with audience, turning festival Monday in a winning day sealing a succesfull risky and unique bet: organizing a great international film festival in the Age of Covid. The grim London Times indeed, usually not very generous with Italy, just yesterday wrote about a «triumphant opening» of Venice 77, the first daring to challenge pandemic.
Barbera-Cicutto team up have evident credits, such as those behind the curtains able to set up a very complicated machine without taking off the taste of cinema and the pleasure to talk about movies and breath cinema, even with a face mask on. The picture – published today on Ciak in Mostra – of president of the jury Cate Blanchett stopped at check point and easily undergoing on temperature measurement testify that persevere has been a winning intuition. And it’s not trivial. Now majors must play their part to let this lucky and brave run goes on.
