International correspondent
Saturday Night Fever (opening credits)
Willem Dafoe, who stars in Tim Burton’s festival opener “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” joined jurors Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Bacurau”) and Giuseppe Tornatore (“Cinema Paradiso”) at the Venice Film Festival’s annual opening party on the rooftop of the Danieli Hotel on Tuesday night.
The glamorous party, co-hosted by the Leone Film Group, Variety and the Danieli Hotel, brought together a mix of stars and world-famous names from the industry, including successful Italian director Paolo Genovese, Los Angeles-based producer Niels Juul ("Ferrari") and Bárbara Paz, a Brazilian actor and filmmaker.
"Here we go again!" Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera said from the rooftop with a 180-degree view of the Venice Lagoon. "We're here again to celebrate the pre-opening of the Venice Film Festival," he continued, before noting that this year's star-studded lineup is being hailed as the strongest in years. "I'm not sure, but I'm sure there's a lot of good stuff here and a huge amount of talent," Barbera cautioned. "You let me know at the end of the festival whether you're happy or not."
