Though in its 91st year, the Venice Film Festival is officially celebrating its 80th edition in 2023. Those missing years are due to world events including the Second World War and Italy’s internal political turmoil of the 1970s. Suffice to say, the festival – which came into being under Mussolini – is no stranger to conflict and controversy.
Thankfully, this year’s travails are not in the league of those previous iterations. Festival head Alberto Barbera merely has to contend with the WAG and SAG-AFTRA strikes in the US – putting a stop to promotional work by writers and actors alike – which has led to Luca Guadagnino’s eagerly awaited tennis drama Challengers (a “romantic sports comedy-drama” which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist) being pulled from the programme.
