Venice Brings Down Its Red Carpet COVID Wall, Prepares to Welcome All Main Casts of Competition Titles
Venice Film Festival prepares to kick off its 79th edition on Wednesday (Aug. 31), once again catapulting a strong selection of buzzy movies into the awards season race, its pandemic-driven “wall” on the Lido’s red carpet has come down after two years — just in time to welcome a flurry of celebrities. Erected at the onset of the COVID crisis in 2020, the tall, dramatic outer barrier that shielded the Palazzo del Cinema’s long catwalk from frenzied fans is long gone, along with the socially-distanced screenings that limited seating capacity for journalists and the general public (though online reservations remain in place).