Venice Film Festival switches Zendaya's Challengers for Comandante for opening day
Pierfrancesco Favino in a still from Comandante
The Venice Film Festival kickstarted today (August 30) but with no star power to back up the red-carpet glam. The film festival opted to open with the World War II drama Comandante by young Italian auteur Edoardo De Angelis instead of Zendaya-led Challengers by Luca Guadagnino. The latter was supposed to open the 80th annual Venice Film Festival, but owing to SAG-AFTRA strikes, another film was picked for the opening day.
Comandante is mostly set on a submarine. The film got a brief 90-second standing ovation as actor Pierfrancesco Favino who plays naval officer Salvatore Todaro took a bow.
No stars at Venice Film Festival on opening day
The Venice Film Festival looked rather dull with no stars gracing the red carpet. That also affected the crowds outside the event’s entrance. The biggest cheers went to Damien Chazelle, who is presiding over the Venice jury. During the day’s first press conference, Chazelle and fellow juror Martin McDonagh expressed support for the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood, sporting a Writers Guild on Strike shirt and pin.
Meanwhile, Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera emphasised that despite no actors being allowed to do promotional campaigns for their films as part of SAG-AFTRA rules, we will get to see actors like Adam Driver attend the festival for his upcoming film Ferrari. There will also be Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi for Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Caleb Landry Jones for Luc Besson’s Dogman and Jessica Chastain for Mexican auteur Michel Franco’s Memory. These films will all be screened at the festival on separate days. These movies have been allowed to rope in actors for promotions as these are indie movies.
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The Venice Film Festival runs from August 30 to September 9.
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