Cate Blanchett says pandemic should be used to renew cinema
Venice, Italy, Sep 2 (efe-epa).- Cate Blanchett said the coronavirus pandemic should be used as an opportunity to renew the film industry at the opening of the 77th Venice film festival on Wednesday.
The Australian actress, who is Venice film festival jury president, said at the opening press conference that the impact of the outbreak on the industry is “a global issue”.
“I think in a way as we reemerge it really is a strong chance to robustly examine things we haven’t been forced to examine, which is streaming technology and its implications on cinema and the way we view it and the way we make it,” she added.
“So I think there’s a lot of opportunity right now to ask the deep questions.”
She continued: “My fears are multifarious but I think we have to be courageous and I think every time one starts a project, whether it’s in a pandemic or not, it always feels like first day of school and I think all great projects have begun from ground zero.”
The festival in Italy has gone ahead despite the pandemic after similar competitions such as Cannes in France were suspended.
Blanchett said that with every new project “you throw away everything you previously understood to work and risk failure”.
“So I think probably for us as an industry we understand that challenge it’s in our DNA and so in a way if any industry is going to emerge more resilient, more creative, more inventive it will be the creative arts and the film industry,” she added.
“I’m very hopeful, obviously there are many, many challenges lying ahead.”
She highlighted one of these challenges as the “monoculture of streaming over the last six months” and that it is important for cinemas to reopen.
Blanchett said participating in the jury is a “homecoming of sorts” and that she has “a lot of wonderful connections with Venice both as a tourist, as a lover of visual arts and as a lover of cinema”.
She praised the organizers for holding the event and added: “We have to reopen and reopen tentatively and I think the film industry like all industries has had supremely challenging months and will continue to as we reemerge.”
She described watching films at home during the pandemic as a “bittersweet pleasure” and said she enjoyed watching Christopher Nolan’s Tenet last week on the big screen with her family. EFE-EPA
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