Venice Film Festival Marks Return of Cultural Events in Europe

Venice Film Festival Marks Return of Cultural Events in Europe

Venice, Italy is reclaiming² its place as a top cultural center this week with the opening of the Venice Film Festival. It is the first major in-person film event since the start of the coronavirus health crisis³. The Cannes Film Festival in France was canceled, and other international festivals chose to go mostly online this year.

The Venice Film Festival is the world's oldest film festival. It has been held 76 other times. The festival will have a new look when it opens Wednesday. The public will be banned from the red-carpet area near the main entrance. Hollywood movie stars and films are largely missing from the festival. And attendees are required to wear face masks while inside buildings.

Those rules are like those Venice and the Veneto area took to contain the coronavirus when it first arrived in late February. Veneto largely kept the virus under control with early stay-at-home orders and a lot of testing once the virus was widespread.

La Biennale chief Robert Cicutto said the decision to hold the film festival in-person was an important sign of rebirth for Venice and the film industry. He said the experience on the Lido will serve as a "laboratory" for future cultural gatherings⁴.

"It will be an experiment on the ground," he said, when announcing the films to be shown.

The September 2nd through 12thfestival marks Italy's return to the center of the art world after it became the first country in the West to be hit by COVID. At that time, "Mission: Impossible 7," starring Tom Cruise⁵, was filming in Venice. The production company had to suspend work on the project.

Italy's 10-week lockdown largely limited the spread of the virus, but infections are now rising after many people took summer vacations. Health officials are attempting to test passengers at airports and seaports⁶ to try to identify imported cases before they spread.

People attending the Venice Film Festival must obey the same rules. If they arrive from outside Europe's open-border Schengen area, they will be tested upon arrival. The Schengen area is made up of 26 European countries that have agreed to remove border controls for all citizens.

The festival will provide special seating, spaced far apart, for all movie showings. Masks will be required during all films.

"Clearly we have to abide⁷ by anti-COVID measures," said Paola Mar¹, Venice's culture chief. "Each of us has a personal responsibility...if all of us do our jobs, we can limit the harm."

Venice depends heavily on tourism for its economy. Since COVID-19 hit Italy in March, there have been few visitors. Even famous stars are staying away. Restrictions⁸ on travel from the United States to Europe have meant that Hollywood films and movie stars will not attend. However, American Matt Dillon agreed to be on the festival jury⁹ just recently when Romanian director Cristi Puiu pulled out. Actress Cate Blanchett heads the jury.

Most of the films this year are European. There are many Italian films, including the first Italian opening-night film in years, the family drama "Lacci," by Daniele Luchetti. Spanish director Pedro Almodovar will show his first English-language film, "The Human Voice." It is a short film that stars Tilda Swinton. She is expected to attend the festival to receive a life achievement award.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

festival – n. a place of celebration for a special reason

lockdown – n. shutting down everything and forbidding people to leave their homes

abide – v. to accept or to tolerate something

tourism – n. the business of people visiting places for pleasure

drama – n. intense social occurrences¹⁰ in life or film

achievement – n. something good that one has accomplished

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

5 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

6 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

7 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

10 occurrences   

n.发生( occurrence的名词复数 )；出现；事件；发生的事

参考例句：

• Newspapers record the chief occurrences of the day. 报纸报道了当天发生的大事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• None of these occurrences should be considered as errors. 这些现象没有一个应该被看做错误。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓