La Mostra de Venise
Information
Report on the 61st Mostra of Venice, with a formula that has been rejuvenated and enriched by its new director, Marco Muller, with new off events.
Context
La Mostra in Venice, created in 1932, is the oldest international cinema festival. Taking place in September during the Venice biennial, La Mostra takes the role of a glamorous and popular meeting point, attempting to celebrate the best works and the most original authors of the seventh art. Akira Kurosawa (1951), Michelangelo Antonioni (1964), Gillo Pontecorvo (1966), Louis Malle (1987), Krysztof Kieslowski (1993), Ang Lee (2005, 2007)... all among the list of filmmakers rewarded with the prestigious Lion d'Or, given to the best film on show.
Like other artistic exhibitions, La Mostra is influenced by current affairs and political events of the moment. In the 1930s the fascist governments did not hesitate to impose their selection (it was a reaction to this mismanagement that gave France the idea of another festival in 1939, the future Cannes Festival). After the anti-establishment movements of the 1968, no further Lion d'Or were awarded until 1980.
In 2004, the organisers authorised a space for expression for the young alter-globalists. Finally, in 2007, the Iraq conflict theme was at the heart of the programme: on its 75th birthday, this most aged of festivals proclaimed its openness to the realities of the world while representing the voice of artists and its ever listening ear for the public.