Venice Hosts First Post-Lockdown Film Festival

Venice hosted the first international film festival since the COVID-19 lockdown, and it was a success, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The festival was complete with a socially-distanced red carpet, and all attendees wore masks. There were also new hygiene measures taken, including mandatory temperature checks at all entrances to festival grounds.

The measures have been "pretty strict [but] pretty painless," said PR exec Charles McDonald. "It's been pretty flawless, quite frankly. I think if Venice can do it, then it seems to me that there's no excuse for the likes of Berlin and Cannes."

"We are very pleased to see it all can still happen - filmmakers walking the red carpet, the audience watching films, finally meeting colleagues from different countries again - the things which belong to the heart of a festival," said Berlin Festival co-heads Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. "Best of all: it still works!"

"I'm very optimistic," said Claude-Eric Poiroux, general director of arthouse exhibitors body Europa Cinemas, "Venice shows the world festivals are possible again, and we see from theaters that are re-opening that audiences are coming back."

Read more on The Hollywood Reporter.