This year’s Venice Film Festival kicked off this week and offered a welcome throwback. Sure, the annual tribute to the best in international cinema has been a tradition for the past eight decades, but 2020’s lack of star-studded events and joyous celebration has elevated it to new prominence. As the first international film festival since the coronavirus pandemic began, Venice reminds the world of the power of onscreen creativity and red-carpet fantasy. With new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Gia Coppola, and even Orson Welles, the schedule is jam-packed, and chic stars from across the globe will be sailing in on water taxis for photo ops and premieres. The eternally elegant jury president Cate Blanchett led the pack, and with nine days worth of premieres and appearances from innovative style stars like Tilda Swinton, Regina King, and Italian pop star Elodie, the fashion is sure to delight.
This week’s opening ceremony set the bar for style high. Blanchett went sustainable by shopping her closet and pulling out a dramatically sequined Esteban Cortazar look that she’d first worn in 2015 at the London premiere of Carol. Golden Lion recipient Swinton brought out the Chanel couture to pick up the lifetime-achievement award for her boundary-breaking career. Her understated ruffled-blouse-and-skirt combo received an artsy accent thanks to a custom Venetian carnival mask designed by Björk’s creative director, James T. Merry.