Alberto Barbera on the return of Erotic Cinema in Venice, US Indie Films and Netflix Being MIA

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The artistic director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera said that he has been “working hard for the past nine months like a factory worker at a Chaplinesque pace” to assemble the star team that he recently revealed in the paper as well looks to be one of his best. .

The upcoming 81st edition of the Lido has a balanced mix of famous name venues and discoveries in a wide variety of genres from pure entertainment to political action and marks the return of indicted cinema. , as Barbera says. Variety.

It looks like a big list. Are you happy?

Yes, I’m really happy. I’m really excited because, as you say, the lineup is fun and diverse. Let’s say I’m 95%-98% happy, because we can always do better. But, having said that, I must note that this year’s selection reflects the aspirations and guidelines of the type of festival I have been working on for years. It brings together great auteur films; amazing cinema for everyone; discoveries; early filmmakers; and the unexpected. There is indeed an attempt to give a general picture of the state of modern cinema in all its many different aspects.

Let’s talk about American movies. Were they hard to find? Were there any weaknesses?

It wasn’t that hard. The films we found were mostly the ones we started talking about when I did my usual trip at the beginning of the year in New York and Los Angeles, between the end of January and the beginning of February. But it is true, there has been a decline in productivity. In February the effects of the epidemic and the post-epidemic period were still felt and negatively affected production figures. Indeed, most of the American films that are in Venice this year, with the exception of Warner Bros films (including “Joker 2”) are mostly independent productions, even if their distribution would have been entrusted to the big studios .

This year there are no films from Netflix, which used to be a fixture in Venice. Why?

Netflix doesn’t exist because they didn’t have a party product. They are going through a transition period after Scott Stuber (the original head of Netflix Films) left in the fall. He was replaced earlier this year by Dan Lin who clearly needed time. But maybe they will come back next year. I keep in touch with Netflix, I already know what films they have in development and which ones will be ready for the next edition of the festival. They are great titles, by great auteurs.

A24, which was in Venice for the first time two years ago with “The Whale” and last year with “Priscilla,” is back with the sensual “Babygirl” with Nicole Kidman.

Yes, I think they were hesitant before “The Whale” because they didn’t know Venice. But they have enjoyed their experiences.

You said earlier today that sexuality is back in Venice “in all its forms, heterosexual, gay, fluid, sadomasochistic, and young,” marking “the return of and truly in reviving sexuality after years of respectability and self-effacement.” Can you elaborate?

Well, “Baby Girl” speaks for itself, right? It’s about a tragic relationship within an American corporation with new elements that, compared to other similar films, the ending really proves the difference between the present and the past. A film about the same topic 20 or 30 years ago would have ended very differently. Without spoilers, I will say that a female opponent who engages in illegal behavior, in other words, in the past would be punished.

The most interesting work in Venice – again, I don’t want to give too much away – is the TV series led by Alfonso Cuaron “Information” [starring Cate Blanchett]. The fourth part of this series is really extreme. I can’t say more, obviously. There is also another film that deals with the topic of sex and free sexual behavior in a very free, clear and direct way, and it is the film of the Norwegian filmmaker, Dag Johan Haugerud, “Love ,” his follow-up to “Sex” that started playing. Berlin earlier this year and completes a trilogy dealing with modern sexual behavior.

And then there’s “Queer” of course – is it true that there’s a lot of sex on screen?

Yes, there is “Queer,” of course, where the two main themes are drug addiction and addiction to physical and sexual attraction to men of the same sex. With this film, again, we are in a place to tell the truth completely, without discrimination, the ability to solve these problems in a direct, clear way. And the fact that Daniel Craig indulged in such an embarrassing sequence is a sign of great courage at a time when this behavior is still frowned upon by a significant portion of the audience.

In the press conference, you described it as the biggest part of Craig’s career.

See, I usually don’t do this because a party director coming from this angle is not right. But there are two changes, in other words, unforgettable performances this year [at Venice] those are the performances of a lifetime and those are Daniel Craig in “Queer” and Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker 2.” They are unforgettable performances and I will be surprised if they end up competing for the top spots at Venice and the Oscars.