Venice film festival teaches lessons
Cinema fest boasts reputation as one of the most influential in Europe
Are you looking for the types of movies you won’t find at the AAFES theater? Would you like to see them while sitting in a theater with the people who created them? And would you like to view them before anyone else you know does?
Do not despair, cities all over Europe sponsor film festivals that will satisfy your appetite for something new different. Themes range from animated children’s shorts, to three-hour marathons on dark and difficult subjects — and just about everything in between.
One popular festival runs in Venice, Italy, every year during the first two weeks of September. Screening movies from all over the world, it has grown into one of the most important international gatherings of filmmakers, movie stars and cinema buffs in the world.
My wife and I were in desperate need of a weekend escape, so we hopped on the train and blasted into Venice. In two days, we watched five movies. We saw productions from Denmark, Germany, China, Slovenia and Italy. As with most festivals, Venice projects films in their original language with English and Italian subtitles.
We agreed the Danish work, “Strings” was the most interesting. It is the first full-length film done completely with marionettes, along with some pretty hot special effects.
We also learned some important lessons that weekend. Hopefully you can take advantage of them if there is a film festival in your future.
¶ Do not trust the screening schedule on the festival Web page unless it is confirmed. Sometimes films do not arrive on time or a celebrity fails to show up, forcing a schedule change. If your luck is anything like ours, you’ll be at the theater expecting to see the latest Robert DeNiro film, only to find that what is showing is some obscure piece from Tahiti.
¶ Once you have your ticket, get to the theater early. Film festivals are crawling with media people who are brutal about cutting in line and insist on taking all the good seats.
¶ See movies during the week, rather than Saturday and Sunday, if you can . Prices are lower and the crowds are smaller.
¶ Avoid the evening film that starts at about 7:30. In Venice, tickets for those screenings cost 30 euros each. The only way I’ll pay that kind of money for a movie is if Nicole Kidman is sitting right next to me.
During our stay, we saw Al Pacino, which was cool. Unfortunately we missed Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep, which was not. Maybe you will have better luck.
By the way, if you are thinking of a visit to Venice, you could find a good deal on places to stay at vaporettovenice.com. It rents small apartments equipped with a nice kitchen stocked with food and water. You will spend about the same as a hotel room (still not cheap — this is Venice, after all) but you’ll save a bundle by making your own meals.
Jim Sago is a freelance writer living in Italy. E-mail him at: james_sajo@yahoo.com.
More festivals for film lovers ...
Here is a sampling of other European film festivals with Web sites for finding details.
October: Pordenone Silent Film Festival, Sacile, Italy (near Aviano); silent films; www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm.
November: London Film Festival; documentaries, full-length, shorts; www.lff.org.uk.
Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival, Germany; documentaries, full-length, shorts; www.mannheim-filmfestival.com.
February: Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival, Belgium; full-length, shorts, animated; www.awn.com/folioscope.
April: European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany; retro, shorts; www.emaf.de.
June: Mediterranean Film Festival, Tübingen, Germany (near Stuttgart); documentaries, full-length; www.cityinfonetz.de/filmtage/index.html.
.July: Giffone Film Festival, Giffone, Italy (near Naples); children’s films; www.giffoniff.it.
Cambridge Film Festival, Cambridge, England; features, documentaries, shorts; www.picturehousecinemas.co.uk.
— Jim Sajo
