Fewer Hollywood stars to grace Venice Film Festival

Venice Film Festival is all set to welcome the Hollywood stars at the first major in-person cinema showcase of the coronavirus era after Cannes canceled. 

The 77th edition of the world’s oldest film festival will look nothing like its predecessors.

The audience will be barred from the red carpet, which will begin from September 2 to 12, marking Italy’s return to the art world stage after it became the first country in the West to be slammed by the virus.

Hollywood stars and films will be largely absent and face masks will be required indoors and out as the festival opens Wednesday.

Those strict measures are evidence of the hard line Venice and the surrounding Veneto region took to contain the virus when it first emerged in the lagoon city in late February.

Chief Robert Cicutto, La Biennale, explained the decision to hold the festival at all was an important sign of rebirth for Venice and the film industry, adding that the experience on the Lido will serve as a “laboratory” for future cultural gatherings.

He continued : "It will be an experiment on the ground of how to confront an important event."

More than 50 countries are participating - at least four titles were added at the last minute to the out of competition line-up, some of them filmed and edited in record time after the easing of lockdowns.