Death in Venice? A festival with no stars and Polanski

As the dust begins to settle after last weekend’s Barbenheimer mania and corresponding box-office blockbusting success, the reality of what the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes might mean for both studios and audiences is about to hit home, or is it?

One of the more difficult problems for studios and festivals is the SAG rule that forbids actors from conducting any publicity for films while the strike is going on. In many studio boardrooms, crisis meetings have been hastily held to decide whether planned forthcoming titles should go ahead without actor support for red-carpet premieres and PR or whether it would be more prudent to hold off until the disagreement between the guild and studios is resolved.

It has already been announced that Challengers, Italian director Luca Gaudagnino’s Zendaya-starring tennis drama, which was scheduled to open the Venice Film Festival, has been withdrawn and pushed its release to next year. Denis Villeneuve’s hotly anticipated Dune: Part Two, which also stars Zendaya is reportedly considering the possibility of holding its release until 2024.

However, while the absence of actors for red carpets and promotional junkets may be causing a headache for Hollywood, you wouldn’t think that it’s much of a concern for the directors of the upcoming Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, judging by the recently announced heavy-hitting director and A-lister packed line-ups on their programmes, inclusion in which is much sought after in the run-up to US awards season.

Venice, which kicks off on August 30, this week announced a line-up that includes films by US heavyweights Bradley Cooper, Michael Mann, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola and industry pariahs Woody Allen and Roman Polanski among others.

Toronto which starts on September 7, features a programme of star-studded titles, many of which have still not secured distribution deals and were made outside the studio system, thus possibly allowing for actors to sidestep the SAG regulations on publicity that bind their studio and streamer produced counterparts. The festival’s line-up includes films starring Kate Winslet, Emily Blunt, Olivia Colman, Tommy Lee Jones, Jamie Foxx, Ian McKellen and Elliot Page.

While it’s hopeful to see that two of the biggest festivals on the calendar are able to continue showcasing intriguing new content, it remains to be seen whether the conditions of the strike would still effect their release dates after their festival premieres.

Speaking to Variety this week, Venice festival director Alberto Barbera said that at first the announcement of the actors’ strike seemed as if it could be devastating to festival plans. “For the first few days there was total silence, we were unable to speak to anyone. We understood that the situation was very complex and threatening. There was a real risk that all the American movies could be pulled,” Barbera said.

However he was relieved to find that most of the producers and studios behind the films accepted into competition, decided to participate. He also pointed out that while major studio productions such as Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, David Fincher’s Netflix thriller The Killer and Greek maverick Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things won’t see any actors involved coming to Venice for promotion; there are a number of other films in competition that were produced outside the studio system and are thus not bound by SAG regulations.

These include Michael Mann’s long awaited biopic Ferrari starring Adam Driver as the Italian car designer and Penelope Cruz; Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, a biopic of Priscilla Presley; and Ava DuVernay’s Origin .

Though the festival has supported productions in their attempts to obtain waivers from SAG that would allow actors in major productions to promote them, it’s uncertain as to whether these would be granted and even if they were, whether actors would feel comfortable enough about crossing the picket line to make the trip to Venice.

All of the debate about the SAG strike and its impact on Venice has perhaps overshadowed the inclusion of films by Woody Allen — whose latest Coup de Chance is a romantic thriller shot in French in Paris — and Roman Polanski whose new film The Palace is set in a Swiss Hotel on New Year’s Eve and marks the second time, since his expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2018, that he’s had a film accepted by Venice. French director Luc Besson who had rape charges dropped against him last year, also makes his return to the international film arena with DogMan which is showing at this year’s festival.

In response to questions about the inclusion of these films, Barbera pointed out to Variety that, “Luc Besson has been recently fully cleared of any accusations. Woody Allen went under legal scrutiny twice at the end of the ’90s and was absolved. With them, I don’t see where the issue is. In Polanski’s case, it’s paradoxical. It’s been 60 years. Polanski has admitted his responsibility. He’s asked to be forgiven. He’s been forgiven by the victim. The victim has asked for the issue to be put to rest. That aside, there is a cultural debate under way about Polanski with less rigid positions being taken. I am on the side of those who say you have to distinguish between the responsibilities of the individual and that of the artist. Also, I am a festival director, not a judge”.

As for Toronto, long-time director Cameron Bailey has assured a watching industry that “the festival will take place ... because we’re a big city, full of film lovers, I’m confident that our audience will come to see the films. We still have some great films, and as we do every year, I think audiences will want to see them”.

What happens to eager audiences who won’t be able to attend either of two of the year’s biggest festivals is less certain, but for now it’s probably a good thing that there will be films at Venice and Toronto this year, even if their stars may be conspicuously absent.