There are truly many anecdotes and significant moments that fill my memory, first as a passionate attendee of the festival and then as its director. It’s so hard to pick just one! The one experience that changed me the most took place during my first year in Venice. Up to that point, I had been working on a smaller indie cinema festival – Turin – and I had no rapport with the Majors.
Upon being nominated director of the Venice Film Festival, my first travel was to Hollywood, in January 1999, and my first meeting was with WB, who told me they had a film for the VFF. What film was it? Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. I couldn’t believe it! Beginner’s luck, I told myself. The film did come to Venice, despite Kubrick’s death. We took it as a chance to homage this legendary filmmaker.
