The Venice Film Festival has designated Julie Andrews the recipient of the 2019 Golden Lion for Career Achievement. The Mary Poppins and Sound Of Music star will receive the honor at the 76th Lido event which runs August 28-September 7. Andrews responded today, "I am so honored to have been selected as this year's…

In 2012 Venice chief Alberto Barbera began a campaign to grow Hollywood’s presence on the Lido. The festival had always been an A-list arthouse event, but Barbera went to U.S. studios and leading American producers to explain his project to make Venice a key awards season launch-pad. Regular visits to LA continue to…

From Roma to Suspiria and A Star Is Born to The Favourite, female actors and characters have shone through on the big screen during the first half of the Venice Film Festival. The phenomenon is notable given the concurrent lament over the lack of women directors on the Lido. Jacques Audiard today became the…

In a striking display of poor taste fashion sense, an Italian filmmaker paraded a ‘Weinstein Is Innocent’ t-shirt on the Venice Film Festival red carpet Saturday night for the world premiere of Suspiria. Venice fest chief Alberto Barbara told Deadline this morning the stunt was “a stupid move.” Luciano Silighini…

The Venice Film Festival has joined festivals in Cannes, Locarno and Sarajevo in putting its signature to a gender parity charter today. Biennale chief Paolo Baratta and fest director Alberto Barbera signed the pledge, begun at Cannes by French organization 5050�—2020, with the associations Dissenso Comune and Women…

The Venice Film Festival is under fire from the European Women's Audiovisual Network and other advocacy groups due to the lack of women directors in its lineup. In a forthright open letter, the EWA and signatories including Women in Film & TV International, WIFT Nordic, WIFT Sweden, and the Swiss Women's Audiovisual…

When Cannes refused to show Netflix movies in Competition earlier this year many rolled their eyes. 'Only in France', they said. Not so fast, it turns out. While Venice's line-up has got most of us salivating, the festival's warm embrace of Netflix – the streaming giant has a record six movies on the Lido, including…

Venice Film Festival Artistic Director Alberto Barbera is in an enviable position. The lineup he unveiled today includes a host of titles that will likely figure in the awards-season conversation for months to come. That’s driven home by the fact that Venice has, since Barbera’s return to the fest in 2012, been a…

UPDATE: The Venice Film Festival has come up with another intriguing lineup which — despite mostly on-the-nose pre-reveal speculation — also offers some surprises, notably the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs landing in competition. Artistic Director Alberto Barbera unveiled the full roster this morning in…

The Venice Film Festival kicks off in earnest tonight with the official world premiere screening of Alexander Payne’s Downsizing in competition. Ahead of that (and after the well-met press screening of Downsizing), fest director Alberto Barbera introduced this year’s jury president, Annette Bening, to journalists…

Following in the footsteps of her American Beauty helmer Sam Mendes last year, Annette Bening has been named President of the jury for the 74th Venice Film Festival. The actress is the first woman in recent memory to assume the role. Fest director Alberto Barbera acknowledged that today, saying, "It was time to break…

Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera wants to put an end to the battle for world premieres. The affable Italian, who announced the lineup for the 72nd running of the world's oldest festival this morning, spoke with me this afternoon about competition among Venice, Toronto and Telluride for bragging rights to the…