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The
11-day event draws together film-makers from around the world,
giving them an invaluable opportunity to promote work that might
otherwise not gain global prominence.
But beyond the Venice Lido's glamorous red carpet, movie
veterans worry about the future of the industry: box office
sales have not yet recovered from the COVID pandemic, raising
questions about the long-term financial viability of movies.
"What concerns us all is that cinema continues to live on as
much as possible. We know that it has been weakened in recent
times," Huppert said at the traditional news conference to mark
the start of the world's oldest film festival.
"I am not a director, I am only an actress, but we know what it
represents in terms of courage, endurance, solitude,
determination, to ... make a film," she added, saying her goal
was to help cinema keep going "for as long as possible".
"But that's why a festival like Venice exists, it's like an
ecosystem that is more necessary than ever to proclaim these
values. So I'm really happy to be here," Huppert said.
Huppert, 71, has appeared in over 120 films and has won the best
actress award twice at Venice, in 1988 and 1995. She and her
family also run two small art house cinemas in Paris.
Global cinema box office takings are estimated to have hit
almost $34 billion in 2023, according to data from Gower Street
Analytics, an increase of 30.5% on 2022, but still 15% below
average annual returns from 2017-2019, before COVID hit.
However, sales have declined again this year in the United
States - the biggest movie market in the world, setting alarm
bells ringing.
U.S. director Debra Granik, who is the head of the jury for
Venice's more experimental Horizons section this year, thanked
Huppert for addressing the "elephant in the room".
"That's why we all showed up here because we want to see this
art form thrive,” Granik said.
The Venice festival opens on Wednesday night with the world
premiere of Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", which is
being shown out of competition. The event ends on Sept. 7 when
Huppert will announce who has won the top Golden Lion award.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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