1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections

Venice Film Festival

Roland, Regina/Elisabetta GallaAugust 27, 2013

The longest-running world film festival is set to open in Venice. The world premiere of the 3D space fantasy "Gravity" will be aired on opening day. Then the hunt for the Golden Lion best film award can begin.

https://p.dw.com/p/19XWt

The first ever Venice Film Festival was held 81 years ago, in 1932. Rouben Mamoulian's cinematic adaptation of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was screened that August. In Mussolini's Italy, however, the festival took on something of a dark persona. In lieu of the the Golden Lion statuettes awarded to winners, the victors instead vied for a "Coppa Mussolini" trophy.

The three editions of the festival held between 1940 and 1942, open only to Axis powers and films during the Second World War, are not counted among the 70 officially recognized editions of the world's oldest film festival.

This year's festival, which runs from Wednesday August 28 until September 7, with a total of 20 films on show. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock star in the space fantasy film "Gravity," which will premiere on opening day. Another high-profile film is "The Zero Theorem," starring Matt Damon and directed by Monty Python creator Terry Gilliam.

msh/ph (dpa, Reuters)