Artist and curators refuse to open Israel pavilion at Venice Biennale until cease-fire, hostage deal
The artist and curators representing Israel at this yearโs Venice Biennale have announced they wonโt open the Israeli exhibition until there's a cease-fire in Gaza and an agreement to release hostages.
Venice Film Festival unveils A-list lineup with โPriscilla,โ โFerrari,โ โMaestroโ amid strikes
Bradley Cooperโs Leonard Bernstein drama โMaestro,โ Sofia Coppolaโs Priscilla Presley movie, Michael Mannโs โFerrari,โ David Fincherโs โThe Killerโ and Ava DuVernayโs โOriginโ will be making their world debuts at the Venice International Film Festival this fall.
Oil drilling in Gulf safer, but concerns linger, report says
A new National Academy of Science study says that 13 years after a massive BP oil spill fouled the Gulf of Mexico, regulators and industry have reduced some risks in deep water exploration in the gulf but some troublesome safety issues persist.
Poitras documentary wins top prize at Venice Film Festival
โAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed,โ Laura Poitrasโs epic documentary about photographer Nan Goldin and her activism against the Sackler family and their art connections has been awarded the Golden Lion for best film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.
Aronofsky, Iรฑarritu films set for Venice Film Festival
Darren Aronofskyโs โThe Whale,โ the Marilyn Monroe drama โBlonde,โ Alejandro Gonzรกlez Iรฑรกrrituโs โBardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truthsโ and Guadagninoโs โBones and All,โ with Timothรฉe Chalamet, will all have their world premieres in competition at the Venice International Film Festival this fall.
MLB tests pitch clock, anti-shift, bigger bases in minors
Pitchers, catchers and batters will be able to appeal calls from human umpires to โrobo umpsโ in the Low-A Southeast League this season, while pitch clocks, anti-shift rules and larger bases will be tried in the minors ahead of possible big league use in 2023.
Acclaimed French director Bertrand Tavernier dies at age 79
FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2015, file photo, Director Bertrand Tavernier poses with his Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievements after the award ceremony at the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. Acclaimed French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier has died at the age of 79, according to French media. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)PARIS โ French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, who directed acclaimed movies such โA Sunday in the Country,โ โCaptain Conanโ and โThe Judge and the Assassin,โ has died, according to his family. Tavernier was married to the late French-Irish screenwriter Claudine OโHagan, better known as Colo Tavernier, from 1965 to 1980. They had two children together: writer Tiffany Tavernier and director and actor Nils Tavernier.
Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker to star in spring plays
Mary-Louise Parker attends the Broadway opening of "After Midnight" on Nov. 3, 2013 in New York, left, and Meryl Streep arrives at the premiere of the film 'The Laundromat' at the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy, on Sept. 1, 2019. Parker and Streep have signed on to perform in a new virtual play series this spring while Broadway is closed. (AP Photo)NEW YORK โ Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, Audra McDonald, Kevin Klein, Carla Gugino and Keanu Reeves have signed on to perform in a new virtual play series this spring while Broadway is closed. The series kicks off Thursday with โThe Thanksgiving Playโ by Larissa FastHorse, directed by Leigh Silverman starring Reeves, Bobby Cannavale, Heidi Schreck and Alia Shawkat. The next show โ on April 8 โ will feature โAngry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeousโ by Pearl Cleage directed by Camille A.
Academy Museum to honor Sophia Loren, Haile Gerima at gala
Director Haile Gerima appears at the 65th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sept. 2, 2008, left, and Sophia Loren arrives at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Oct. 27, 2019. Loren and independent filmmaker Haile Gerima will be honored with special awards by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. (Photos by Andrew Medichini/AP, left, and Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 4PM ET/1PM PTThe Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is assembling a star-studded cast for its opening gala in September. Italian screen legend Sophia Loren and independent filmmaker Haile Gerima will be honored with special awards, and Tom Hanks, Annette Bening and Bob Iger are being saluted for their efforts to raise $388 million for the long gestating museum, the organization said Monday. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in the historic Saban Building.
Florida deputies help free gator stuck in storm drain
VENICE, Fla. โ A 6-foot alligator that got stuck in a storm drain was freed by some Florida deputies. A jogger in Venice, Florida first spotted the stuck gator Tuesday morning and reported it to deputies, according to a tweet from the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. Deputies responded to Cerromar Terr., Venice, to help this 6โ ๐ free himself from a storm drain. pic.twitter.com/2rQTpN8W3c โ SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) December 21, 2020Deputies lifted a concrete slab that helped the gator wiggle free, the sheriff's office said. The gator was later freed after a trapper was called but did not respond, the sheriffโs office said.
Woman fatally shot at Florida bank
VENICE, Fla. โ A woman was fatally shot at a bank in Venice on Monday morning, sheriffโs officials said. The shooting happened just after 9 a.m. at a BB&T bank branch in Venice, which is near Sarasota on Floridaโs Gulf Coast, the Sarasota Sheriffโs Office said in a Facebook post. Arriving deputies found the woman dead at the scene. The Sheriffโs Office hasnโt released many details about the shooting. But officials said โall involved parties are accounted for," the post said,Investigators are working to notify the woman's relatives.
Chloรฉ Zhaoโs 'Nomadland' wins TIFF People's Choice Award
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Frances McDormand in a scene from the film "Nomadland" by Chloe Zhao. (Searchlight Pictures via AP)After picking up Venice's Golden Lion award, Chloรฉ Zhaoโs โ Nomadland " has won another prestigious honor: The Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award. Zhao's film features Frances McDormand as a widowed wanderer of the modern American West. Set for a Dec. 4 release, โNomadlandโ has already been hailed as a top Oscar contender, but winning the audience award at TIFF is promising for its Oscar chances. Other People's Choice winners include Michelle Latimer's documentary โInconvenient Indian," about Indigenous peoples in North America, and Roseanne Liang's midnight madness selection โShadow in the Cloud," with Chloรซ Grace Moretz.
Venice Fest closes amid cheers for daring to open amid virus
(Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)VENICE โ The Venice Film Festival is wrapping up the first COVID-era international cinema showcase Saturday, with critics, filmmakers and actors alike cheering organizers for having dared to hold the festival amid a pandemic and demonstrating how to go to the movies again, safely. Once the virus spread, the Cannes Film Festival was canceled outright, and other big international festivals in Toronto and New York opted to go mostly online. โWe were a little bit worried at the beginning, of course,โ festival director Alberto Barbera said. Twenty-twenty is not the year for those kind of discussions.โInstead, she said, Venice was a film festival that focused on the integrity of the films. The diversity of countries represented is a development that festival director Barbera has greeted with particular satisfaction.
Ann Hui wins lifetime achievement award at Venice festival
Director Ann Hui holds her Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement during the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)VENICE Hong Kong director Ann Hui paid tribute to her home city as she received a lifetime achievement award from the Venice International Film Festival. The acclaimed director said she wanted to revert this honor back to Hong Kong, the city where she grew up. Huis impact on the Hong Kong film industry and Asian cinema is second to none. Shes a five-time winner of Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Quarantine a small price to pay for Australian in Venice
Director Roderick MacKay poses for portrait photographs for the film 'The Furnace' during the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. MacKay had to get government approval to leave Australia and will spend a total of a month in quarantine because of coronavirus precautions but says it's a small price to pay to bring his first feature film to Venice. But the 33-year-old director says its a small price to pay to get his first feature film,The Furnace, to the Venice Film Festival especially after it took six years to make. So a month in quarantine, really in the scheme of things, is kind of a small blip in the time that Ive taken from my life to realize this project, he said. After Venice, he retraces his steps back to Perth, where a government-appointed hotel quarantine awaits him.
Blanchett on Venice, virus and why lessons weren't learned
VENICE Australian actress Cate Blanchett said Wednesday she is baffled that other countries didnt learn from Italys pain to be better prepared to fight the coronavirus outbreak when it spread. Blanchett, who is heading the jury at the virus-restricted Venice Film Festival, arrived on the Lido wearing a surgical mask and skipped the typical water taxi photo op that stars have long used. At an opening-day press conference, Blanchett was asked whether she feared coming to Italy, the first country in the West to be slammed by COVID-19. Hospitals, cemeteries and morgues were overflowing in nearby Lombardy, which became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. They will award the coveted Golden Lion and other awards to winners of the 18 in-competition films when the festival wraps up Sept. 12.
Venice opens 'miraculous' film festival, but veterans lament
Actress Tilda Swinton holds a carnival mask as she poses for photographers upon arrival at the opening ceremony of the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Welcome to the Venice Film Festival in the time of coronavirus. We know the festival of Venice will be a sort of test for everybody, said festival director Alberto Barbera. But for veteran Venice festival-goers, the new restrictions created unprecedented hurdles that threatened to shut them out. Carlo Lazzarini has worked at the Venice film festival for 22 years, this year as chief inspector for one of the smaller screening venues.
Venice reclaims spotlight as 1st COVID-era film fest opens
Festival attendees cycle in front of the main cinema ahead of the start of the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. The 77th edition of the worlds oldest film festival opening Wednesday looks nothing like its predecessors. Italys strict 10-week lockdown largely tamed the virus, but infections are now rebounding after summer vacations. Guests to the glamorous film festival are not exempt. Italian films are well represented, including the first Italian opening-night film in years, the out-of-competition family drama Lacci by Daniele Luchetti.
Venice Film Festival unveils selections for September fete
FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 file photo, actress Cate Blanchett poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'A Star Is Born' at the 75th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. The lineup for the Venice Film Festival will be announced on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, and will be the first major film event since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Barbera noted that almost half of the competition film selections this year are directed by women. The decision to hold the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival is experienced like a sign of confidence in dnd concrete support of the world of film and the audiovisual industry, Barbera said. Cannes and Telluride were cancelled and others like Venice and the Toronto International Film Festival have had to get creative and scale back where possible in order to proceed.
Chloe Zhoe's 'Nomadland' to premiere across fall festivals
NEW YORK Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand, will premiere across the major fall film festivals in an alliance forged by the Venice, Toronto, New York and Telluride festivals. Nomadland, Zhao's follow-up to her acclaimed 2018 film The Rider, is the first movie announced in the new partnership that has brought together the fall's biggest movie launch pads, which typically compete against each other for world premiere rights. Nomadland will debut across Venice, Toronto and at "Telluride from Los Angeles" on Sept. 11. New York, which named the film its centerpiece, will premiere Zhao's film on a later date. Im thankful to be able to make Nomadland and excited for audiences to join Fern on her adventure.Fox Searchlight is planning to release Nomadland theatrically in the fall.
Flood-weary Venice puts "Moses" inflatable barriers to test
ROME Venice has conducted a trial run of an ambitious anti-flood system of 78 inflatable barriers in hopes of protecting the lagoon city from devastating high tides. The projects name, Moses, recalls the Biblical figure who, the Old Testament recounts, parted the waters of the Red Sea. Had Moses been operational last year, it could have been put to a dramatic test. Flood waters on Nov. 12 invaded St. Mark's Basilica and also poured into homes, hotels, stores and restaurants in the city which lives off tourism. The barriers are designed to protect Venice from tides as high as 3 meters (10 feet).
Sarasota County sheriffs car broken into outside his home
SARASOTA, Fla. A Florida sheriff's department-issued vehicle was broken into outside his home late Sunday or early Monday morning, officials saidThe vehicle was parked outside the home of Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knights home in Venice, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. Sheriff's spokeswoman Megan Krahe didn't say what was taken from the vehicle. I can confirm that no weapons or Tasers were taken, Krahe said. It was not left unlocked.Sheriff's investigators are looking into the incident, she said,Its active and ongoing. She said there were other car burglaries in the area, which are being investigated by Venice police.
EU finalizing virus 'safe list,' US unlikely to make the cut
European Union envoys are close to finalizing a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed back into Europe once it begins lifting coronavirus-linked restrictions. The United States appears almost certain not to make the list, as new infections surge and given that President Donald Trump has imposed a ban on European travelers. Importantly, the countries are also expected to drop any travel restrictions they have imposed on European citizens. Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high, too, and their nationals are also unlikely to make the cut. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzlez Laya said the EU is considering whether to accept travelers from China if Beijing lifts restrictions on European citizens.
St. Mark's Square reopens in Venice, but water remains high
Water rose up again in St. Markโs Square on Saturday and the forecast for Sunday was worse. The forecast for Sunday was for the high water mark to reach 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) above sea level. On Saturday, tourists sloshed through St. Markโs Square and strolled across it on raised walkways. Many snapped photos of themselves standing in shallow water in front of St. Markโs Square to document their presence during this exceptional high-water season. She was blowing dry stone jewelry made by her husband, Alfredo, in their workshop near St. Markโs Square.
Historic flooding highlights Veniceโs vulnerability
Flooded St. Mark's Square is seen from a partially submerged camera, in Venice, Italy, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)MILAN โ The historic lagoon city of Venice exists on the edge of a double threat: As it sinks, the seas rise. That would still leave exposed the lowest areas of the city, or about 12% of its area, including St. Markโs Square. The historic flooding only underscores the urgency to resolve Veniceโs problems. ___This story has been corrected to show that Rossiโs organization is Venetian Heritage, not Venice Heritage.