The oldest film festival in Europe has opened in Venice. The program includes works by Roman Polanski, Madonna, George Clooney and others. As part of the competition program, the jury will also evaluate the Russian film “Faust” by Alexander Sokurov.

The oldest Venice Film Festival in Europe has started in Italy. The opening film was George Clooney's latest work, The Ides of March. This is an adaptation of the true story of the Vermont gubernatorial election. Clooney couldn’t find the money to shoot this film for four years, and now he’s presenting it at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. TV presenter and film expert Ekaterina Mtsituridze told Kommersant FM how the guests of the film forum are living now.

“Everyone here is used to it, the police are very friendly. By the way, many star security guards already sign autographs. For example, Security Clooney is now signing autographs to onlookers, so it’s quite funny in this sense. Hotel prices here, of course, are for everyone yearly they inflate to unprecedented heights. Also, the water taxi on which we travel reaches €200 for one trip. These are, of course, unimaginable prices, and no one is monitoring this, of course,” shared Ekaterina Mtsituridze. “Madonna has already arrived. such a sold-out press conference. She looked great, refuting the idea that a beautiful woman is rarely smart, and a singer. Actually, the evening gala premiere before Madonna was a screening of Roman Polanski's "Carnage."

The Venice Film Festival was first held in 1932 and thus became the first in the world. Its founder and director is Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata.

The first film festival was held on the terrace of the Excelsior Hotel on Lido Island, and was attended by 25 thousand spectators. Many films that participated in the screening became cinema classics: “It Happened One Night” with actor Clark Gable, “Grand Hotel” with Greta Garbo, the film “Frankenstein” by James Whale.

Since 1949, the main prize of the film festival has been the Golden Lion of St. Mark.

Last year, it was awarded to director Sofia Coppola for her film Somewhere. Russian director Alexey Fedorchenko received three awards for his film “Oatmeal.” Previously, the winners of the main prize at the Venice Film Festival were Andrei Tarkovsky, Nikita Mikhalkov and Andrei Zvyagintsev.

A total of 22 films will be shown as part of the main program in Venice this year. Among them is one Russian film - “Faust” by Alexander Sokurov. Another Russian film, “From Tokyo” by Alexei German Jr., will be presented in the out-of-competition program “Horizons”.

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