A few months ago, in the statement with which he opened his own Cannes Festival, my friend Gilles Jacob remarked that “the avant-gardes migrate from one place to another; once they were in France, Italy and the United States.” To “get the sense of a Nouvelle Vague,” he would choose to look to other countries today. But if that is the case, then what am I going to say as I prepare to present a Festival at which there will be four French films, four Italian ones and a total of six from the USA? In pointing this out my aim is certainly not to contradict Jacob, who quite rightly also said that “the geography of the cinema is continually changing.” Rather my intention is to get us all excited again about the unpredictable vitality of cinema, as well as of the film festivals themselves, which in this way are providing confirmation of their surprising capacity for exploration.

The 66th Venice Film Festival will see work underway on the construction of the new Palazzo del Cinema, which completion is scheduled in 2011. The creation of a new venue for screenings is part of a broader program of private and public interventions aimed at a general regeneration of the Lido. This is going to involve a number of restrictions being placed on the activities of the Festival this year. But La Biennale has reacted to the situation with a series of initiatives of improvement that are in part aimed at solving old problems and in part foreshadow the future structure and anticipate the expected reorganization of the venues. The introduction of a uniform graphic design is intended in the first place to give a harmonious image to the spaces used for the Festival, in which the principal functions will be redefined. We are giving the Festival a main entrance. The new entrance for both the public and operators will from now on be located on the side of the dock of the Palazzo del Casinò, which will become the new reception point of the event. Access to the Festival will be provided through the corridors of the former Casinò, long abandoned but restored this year, and the areas for accredited journalists will be located alongside. The area of the gardens will be upgraded, with an expansion of the services, the catering and the ticket offices. In particular quality refreshment points will be provided (with affordable prices and remaining open until after midnight). The Sala Palalido is changing its name to the Sala Darsena and will be used in particular for the screening of films in the Orizzonti section—which will assume greater prominence—with a red carpet for welcoming delegations. Following its recent restoration, it will be possible to utilize the terrace of the Palazzo del Cinema; in the first place to provide better hospitality for the delegations, which will be offered a dedicated and first-rate place of reference (it is going to be a real surprise!). In an organizational step of particular significance for this year’s Festival, a new movie theater with 450 seats will be installed in front of the Palazzo del Casinò. Called Sala Perla 2, it is being introduced to create more space for the programming of the Festival and will be used to show the films in the Settimana Internazionale della Critica (“International Critics Week”) and Giornate degli Autori (“Venice Days”) sections.

Organized independently by critics and filmmakers, we have always regarded these as an important adjunct to the Festival. As far as the programming is concerned, I will limit myself to pointing out that we have introduced the new Controcampo Italiano section devoted entirely to Italian cinema, with its own jury, in a move that reinforces the capacity of the Festival to function at one and the same time as a competition, a selection of international cinema and a showcase for quality films—and Italian ones in particular.
Through this general redesign of its structures, the Festival has set out this year to carry out actions aimed at making things easier for the public and for accredited visitors. And it is doing so with direct initiatives, such as the aforementioned refreshment facilities, and indirect ones, by promoting a new and fruitful dialogue with local operators through the socalled “Lido in Mostra” project, that will entitle visitors, operators, journalists and the young to reductions.

For younger visitors a fairly substantial number of rooms at a very moderate price have been found in Venice through the agreement reached with the ESU, an organization providing accommodation for students. Further confirmation of our particular attention to the young is provided by the staging of a national competition for a critical essay on one of the movies shown at the Festival, launched through La Biennale Channel, the new promotional website: an additional incentive to attend the Festival as a moment of enrichment, reflection and analysis. In the name of La Biennale I would like to express our deeply felt gratitude to all those who have facilitated our work and for the institutional support we have received from the Film Board of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per il Cinema, Regione del Veneto, Comune di Venezia and Provincia di Venezia. Our thanks also go to all the sponsors who support the Festival.