Alberto Barbera has extended his contract with the Venice International Film Festival and will remain as artistic director of the Lido until 2026.
The board of directors of La Biennale di Venezia, the umbrella organization that manages the Venice festival, approved the contract extension for two years and announced the decision on Friday.
In a statement, the board said that during his time as festival head, Barbera had been successful in “discovering and launching new talents on the international stage, in spreading and promoting film culture, and in expanding audiences” at the oldest film festival in the world. .
“I immediately felt understanding for it Alberto Barbera and I have great respect for the expertise, professionalism and passion he has demonstrated in his years leading the Venice Film Festival, which have increased the prestige of the oldest film festival in the world. I am extremely happy that La Biennale will continue this path together with him,” said La Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco.
Barbera has been Venice's Artistic Director since 2012, serving from 1998 to 2001. In his most recent tenure, he helped revive the festival's global reputation by securing high-profile, award-winning studio productions. joker, Dune, Poor things – and by embracing Netflix and welcoming features like Jane Campion's The power of the dog and Bradley Cooper's Master to festival competition, unlike Cannes, where the streaming giant remains persona non grata.
Barbera started out as a film critic and journalist and was president of the AIACE, the Italian association of friends of arthouse cinema, from 1977 to 1989. From 1989 to 1998 he was director of the Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani (now the Torino Film Festival) and from 2002 to 2006 was co-director of RING! Festival della Critica in Alessandria. In 2002 he became an advisor for the National Film Museum in Turin and from 2004 to 2016 he was director.
French actress Isabelle Huppert (Michael Haneke ElleThe piano teacher, Ceremony) will serve as chairman of the International jury of the competition on the 81st Venice International Film Festival. Australian director Peter Weir (Association for Dead Poets, The Truman Show) will be honored this year with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Venice.
The 2024 Venice Film Festival takes place from August 28 to September. 7.