Venice Film Festival: They send the jury to an island, so that the winners are not leaked

At this point, the presiding jury Julianne Moore and integrate our compatriot Mariano Cohn not many of the 23 films in competition at the Venice Film Festival remain to be seen. They have to decide which is the best, award him the prestigious Golden Lion. The ceremony will take place this Saturday, but how do the seven members of the Jury choose which is the best film of the Festival?

It is already known that, speaking of tastes, there is too much written.

And what we reported in our exclusive interview with Mariano Cohn, which usually one day before the awards ceremony take the 7 jurors to an island so that there, alone, they deliberate and absolutely nothing leaks out, it is confirmed. The Exhibition has been doing this for years.

The juries here, as in Cannes and Berlinale, the three most important Class A film festivals in the world, attend to attend the Gala screenings – what is considered the world premiere, red carpet included -, or go to accredited functions. The galas are always in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema, from 3.00 pm. The functions for the press and industry begin at 8.30 am.

Of course, at that time, if the jurors finish watching a film at midnight, and for dinner they pass from the island of Lido, where the Festival takes place, to the island of Venice, there is no one to wake them up.

But also, to make the decision on Friday at a morning hour or noon, they have to force the screening of one or two competing films forward. The Palazzo has smaller rooms for 20 or 30 spectators – I remember seeing a private screening of roninto interview Robert De Niro – and there I assume they will have seen the movies that mere mortals see on Thursday and / or Friday.

Why is the decision on the 8 official awards made early on Friday? Well, because the winners need to be notified so that they arrive in time for the closing ceremony and have the prize in their hands. You have to be there. And it’s not the same thing to call an Englishman or a Frenchman, who are just a few hours away, as an American or … an Argentine.

Excuse the infidence, but seven years ago, when Pablo Trapero won the Silver Lion for Best Director The clanThey were warned in advance. They did not tell him which prize the film would win, but they sent him the ticket and already on Friday he was flying to the Marco Polo airport in Venice, including the stopover.

And continuing with the director of world of cranes Y Buenos Aireswhen he was president of the jury of the Un Certain Regard section in 2014, his fellow jury members were forbidden to read any criticism of the films they rated, so as not to be “contaminated”.

giulia president

What will Julianne Moore be like, who heads the jury?

Jury members are prohibited from speaking to the press once the Festival has begun, so all that follows is speculation.

In festivals like Venice, which are long, and eleven days pass from opening to closing, the juries usually meet two or three times. I happened to be the Critics Jury, for FIPRESCI, not here but in Cannes and Toronto, and we usually meet three times. It’s something that, I understand, is similar to what official juries do.

In the first meeting, with more or less 7 or 8 films seen, it is there that you find out what the fellow jury members think and how they evaluate. Alliances begin or not. Already in the second, with 14 films evaluated, a “short list” is drawn up: you must agree and the titles that are not considered to have a chance to receive a prize are eliminated. The more rigorous this preselection, the easier the final discussion will be, because there will be fewer films to discuss and agree on. Or not.

And in the last meeting, the dishes fly through the air, both for lunch and dinner.

The role of the chairman of the Jury is fundamental. You can be a democratic person, who listens to your colleagues or impose your thoughts. There are many examples. Tim Burton cut himself and in Cannes 2010 the Palme d’Or went to the Thai Apichatpong Weerasethakul, for The man who could remember his past lives.

How to know who wins

There is something that is infallible.

But you have to be careful.

It consists of observing who enters the handover ceremony. I mean, look at the red carpet. Difficult to participate, invite someone from the competition who will not receive a prize.

To do this, you have to follow on television if you are far away, or step on the red carpet if you are near the Palazzo del Cinema.

Also on the basis of previous experiences, they usually invite the main cast and part of the film crew of the film that wins the Golden Lion to the Festival.In 2015, I was in the audience of the Great Hall and seeing a dozen Venezuelans enter, I realized that From thereby Lorenzo Vigas, was about to win the Golden Lion.

Then it is more difficult to predict who will receive which award, among the directors. The Mostra assigns the Golden Lion to the best film, and then there are four awards that its directors go up to receive on stage: they are the prizes for the best direction, the Special of the Jury and the Jury, just like that.

There is also the script, which in festivals with many arthouse films usually also ends up in the hands of whoever directed the film, because he was certainly the one who wrote the script. So there are 4 hard to pin down awards.

With the three awards for best performers (the Volpi Cup for best actor and best actress, and Marcello Mastroianni for an emerging figure) it’s easier. If Cate Blanchett is Saturday, we know she will win Tar. and if it is Ricardo Darin…

But it remains for us to speculate about the winners.

Usually the Festival pays for three nights at the Hotel Excelsior, a few meters from the Palazzo del Cinema. So, if the movie has been screened, the directors and cast members go home at first. Some remain, not in Venice, but nearby, just in case. Like Guillermo Francella with The clanwho went from Venice to Florence, to be closer to him in case he was given the Coppa Volpi.

Be that as it may, the awards ceremony begins on Saturday at 8pm (3pm in Argentina). As those of other sections were previously known, such as the Horizons -in which it competes Trenque Lauquénby Laura Citarella-, the big winner will be known not before 4 pm.

Patience.