The sun rises over the Venice Film Festival. Peter woke up much earlier, at 4:30 a.m., to get the best spot on the railing along the red carpet. Drawn features, drawling voice, the Swede struggles to stay focused. In Gothenburg, he works for a tool company. On the lagoon, his instruments are rudimentary: two umbrellas, used to secure the places of his daughter and his wife, still in bed, and a notebook, which he makes the passing stars sign.
For the past ten years, during his holidays, the forty-something has been scouring the main film festivals, in search of autographs. “In general, I love Venice, but this edition is really rotten, there will be very few Americans”, he cursed under his breath. He refers to the strike of Hollywood actors, which has prevented most of them, since July 14, from promoting their films.
With his cap, protecting from rapacious eyes, Peter looks like the most meticulous killers in the films of his favorite directors, Michael Mann and David Fincher. That’s good, both are from the Venetian part, with Ferrari for the first and The Killer for the second, both in competition. “This year, these will be my two priority objectives”loose the autograph hunter.
For his 80e edition, the Mostra is paradoxical in that American films are making a comeback there, after years of pandemic scarcity, at the same time as the stars, with a few exceptions, are conspicuous by their absence. The oxymoron is all the more salient as the Hollywood delegation is mainly made up of films broadcast by the number one enemy of the strikers, the streaming platforms. In France, Ferrari will be released directly to Amazon Prime Video and The Killer on Netflix, which presents four other films at the Mostra, including Maestroby Bradley Cooper, and The Wonderful Story by Henry Sugarby Wes Anderson.
The “opera race” according to Michael Mann
So many works whose actors could not join the Serenissima, with the notable exception of those of Michael Mann, who benefited from a derogation because of the status ” independent “ of its production. Thursday, August 31 at a press conference, Adam Driver, who plays the racer and car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari, was able to repeat his “solidarity” to his fellow strikers and their main union, SAG-AFTRA, pointing out the platforms: “Why do small companies like Neon and STX International [respectivement distributeurs et producteurs de Ferrari aux Etats-Unis] can they meet the highest demands of SAG-AFTRA when big companies like Amazon or Netflix cannot? »
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