With Alberto Barbera Venice Festival Director

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"Alice is a cosmopolitan journalist who has always paid great attention to the evolution of cinema and the cultural and social sides of both small and large-scale Festivals; her continuous and impassioned research always succeeds in grasping the essence of these events. She is never superficial and always independent: a perfect example of journalistic freedom."

THE FUTURE OF FILM FESTIVALS – THROUGH THE EYES OF ALBERTO BARBERA & EDOUARD WAINTROP

A visionary panel discussion between the Director of Venice International Film Festival and the French cinema critic & jury member of ‘Orizzonti’

Thélios, the LVMH eyewear expert and eyewear sponsor of Venice International Film Festival, is pleased to host an inspiring discussion at their institutional Suite in the Hotel Excelsior on September 3rd.
Alberto Barbera, Director of the 79th Venice International Film Festival, and Edouard Waintrop, jury member of this year’s ‘Orizzonti’ competition and a seasoned festival director himself, are two cinema aficionados, industry experts and visionaries.
In times of uncertainty, marked by the global pandemic and international political tensions, along with the rise of digital industry events, the future of established film festivals is a question industry professionals are addressing. Far from being simple to answer, the question invites the two panellists to analyse the current context and share their vision on how film festivals have to evolve to keep their relevancy in the industry and the global cultural scene.
The conference is part of Thélios’ activity at the 79th International Film Festival, in its first year of collaboration with La Biennale.

VERBATIM, covered by Alice Kanterian for filmfestivals.com

The future of festivals - a talk between Alberto Barbera and Edouard Waintrop about the future of cinema, the need of new models for film promotion, fresh ideas to bring back the younger audience to the movie theaters and why the streamers need film festivals

This exclusive event at the Excelsior hotel, organized by Laurent Boye from Jazo PR, was hosted by Thélios, the official sponsor of the Venice International Film Festival and its new appointed CEO Alessandro Zanardo.

Barbera said the future is unpredictable and we should ask about the future of cinema. “We are here to understand the trends and this is difficult because we are in the middle of huge transformation, you feel anxiety, we don’t know what will happen next.” Barbera was talking about the situation in the market after the pandemic, Netflix was already big but now they became huge, and it is not possible to predict  how film distribution will work in the future.

Blockbusters were successfully distributed but the others, expecially the art house films were a disaster at the box office.

So will the audience come back to the movie theaters?

Barbera remains optimistic, the audience will get back to the theaters.
“We should also ask ourselves why the viewers did not come back.  Some of the best movies did not release, they remained on the shelves waiting for a better environment to be released, but if you don’t offer good content the audience will not come back, you create a vicious circle.”

Barbera said that exhibitors should not think anymore that they can release like before, we need a new model. There are some positive experiences for bringing back the audience. The Cinema Anteo in Milan for instant, with 16 theaters in one building, they managed the crisis, the audience is back. How did they do it? They were creative, and found new ways for promoting and releasing a film. They create happenings, a simple proposal of a movie is not enough anymore. People come together to share an experience, for the same reason people attend festivals, to get an autograph, to meet the stars, to take a picture with their favorite star.

“We have to think about other ways to promote films if we want to survive”, Barbera said.

And he add: “In the future we will have the online streeming platforms and the traditional model of theatrical release, and both models will coexist.”

There will always be an audience in theaters, it’s a different experience to watch the film in a beautiful movie theatre feeling emotions, it’s not just watching a movie, there is a magic. Theatres will stay, they will not disappear!

Production and distribution of content will be the most powerful in the industry.  

“What is the role of festivals?”

Barbera continued: “Some say that they will lose importance, I think that festivals will be more important in the future. Streamers must find a way to put in value what they are producing.” They produce great movies and they have the financial resources. The Scorsese film produced by Netflix costs a huge amount of money. They need the festival for the promotion. ”Festivals play a major role in the promotion of a film, it’s a huge opportunity to attract the attention of the audience. The festival will not lose power but become more important what do you think?”



“I totally agree with you, I think the streamers understood that they need us (the frestivals), there is a necessity to meet people, to meet the audience, to meet other­ professionals” Waintrop replied. The quality of the atmosphere will be important. A festival is a fest, you are in a moment of celebration of cinema. To be happy, and you work better (and better interact with the professionals) when you are happy.”

Speaking of my experience in Cannes as a director of Directors' Fortnight there was a problem with an aging audience. The streeming platforms are becoming more attractive for the younger  generation
But in Jedda, at the Red Sea Fillm Festival (where Waintrop was the artistic director)  I experienced a different situation, a highly motivated young generation and many young women were attending, very creative and motivated. And I discovered a wonderful place, the Dammam Film Festival with many creative young people.

“We need stories to be told and meet people, I’m not pessimistic”, Waintrop concluded.
 

Barbera responded “What you said is important, we have more and more streemers:  Paramount, Netflix , Apple, Amazon, Disney +, Warner Brothers. Amazon’s film celebrates its premiere here in Venice, Netflix is also doing this and did it in the past with Sorrentino’s “The new pope”  or Cuaron’s “Roma. I think they  do it more and more because they need a status for the film, I know this and  Netflix is confirming this. Second topic Edouard spoke about is  the aging of consumers, the success of blockbusters depends on a young audience, they all went to watch Spiderman and Mission Impossible.  So it is possible to attract the young generation. The major problem for producer is to understand what to produce in order to get the young people back to the box office and away from the streaming platforms. We need to invest tools to form, to educate the audience. I used to watch every weekend films in my local movie theatre with my parents, it is the responsability of parents and schools to educate the youth. I came back in 2010 and opened the accreditation for students. There were 200 students attending the festival in the beginning anad now after 10 years there are 2000. Film festivals are a huge opportunity to attract the young generation. This is how we can assure that there will be an audience in the future.

And Edouard Waintroup concluded: “In the past we were talking about the same movies, now so many films out. Films allow people to dream. I’m a big fan of musicals, Fred Astaire and  Gene Kelly

Barbera responded to a question by a journalist who complained that talents are not available for interviews saying that  in the 70 all talents stayed on the Lido during the whole festival , but now we find a very different situation and one of the reason for staying only 1 to 2 days is because they have to run between shootings and production companies and press agents are afraid to loose control? They dont let journalist take interview, its but but we can’t change.

Edouard adds that the power of publications is now less, influencers have more power.

Alberto adds that  Timothée Chalamet (stars in “Bons and All” the new film of Luca Guadagnino) appearance on the red carpet was incredible, he went to give autographs, young people went crazy. One girl Alberto spoke to told him, she came to the Lido for both: to have the red carpet (experience, interaction with her star) and also see the film. This is a good example: the young generation want both. They spend  a lot of money come to Venice, for the film ticket, in order to interact with their favorite actors. What they want is  a happening.


There is an other way to attract a younger audience. On the Lazzaretto Vecchio we have the immersive island, the VR experiences attract the younger generation. The creators themselves are young and in general there are doing thinks out of pure passion. The Venice International Film Festival has been the very film festival to create a sector designated to the VR and make it part of the competition. But this article should come to an end, we will dedicate the VR one of the next articles.
 
 

Alice Kanterian at the Better Word Fund gala and Mastermind sessions