Kate Beckinsale, Bella Thorne, and Milla Jovovich add some star power to Venice for the annual amFAR Gala as the annual film festival is disrupted by writer’s strikes.Written by Jason Chester for MailOnline and last revised on September 3, 2023 at 15:46 EDT
On the final night of the 80th Venice Film Festival, the amFAR Gala welcomed a significantly larger crowd than in previous years.Due to Hollywood’s solidarity with the current SAG-AFTRA strikes, the premiere of David Fincher’s The Killer was met with a muted response, but the annual AIDS fundraiser, which took place at the same time, drew its share of famous faces.
Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich, and Bella Thorne flew all the way to northern Italy for the sole purpose of attending the charity event, guaranteeing that the evening would be lavished in glitz and splendor. Beckinsale, 50, greeted onlookers in a revealing gown that swept the floor and was embellished in gold.
The British actress finished off her dramatic getup with a pair of sky-high platform heels, some bold earrings, and a thick coat of makeup. Jovovich wore a stunning lilac satin gown with a silver pattern accent that drew all eyes to her.
Thorne wore a black strapless midi dress and stiletto shoes, looking as chic as ever.In a stunning crimson gown that clung closely to her spectacular body, Leona Lewis drew attention.Leona’s dress had a deep V-neck and sculpted panels at the bust and waist, drawing attention to her stunning figure.
The pillar box red lip and beautiful makeup palette were the finishing touches for the 38-year-old X Factor winner.The dress’s long flowing train and white sculpted corsage did wonders for Rita Ora’s beauty.The 32-year-old singer flaunted her stunning physique in a nude thong bodysuit that was fastened at the waist with a glittering belt.
The 80th edition of the Venice International Film Festival kicked out earlier this week, making it the oldest film festival in the world.The Italian World War II film Comandante, directed by Edoardo De Angelis, was shown as the festival’s opening feature. Society of the Snow, a Netflix drama available in Spanish, will serve as the event’s finale on September 9.
The Festival is held on the Venice Lido, sometimes known as the “beach of Venice,” a small island in the Venetian Lagoon that is easily accessible by water taxi from the city center. The Lido is accessible by car, unlike the rest of Venice.Oscar contenders are often revealed at the festival, which kicks off the awards season. The Venice Film Festival has awarded best director at the Academy Awards eight times in the preceding eleven years.The official selection of films shown is divided into numerous categories, with the best films contending for the Golden Lion.
Among the new movies in contention for the honor are works from Bradley Cooper, Yorgos Lanthimos, David Fincher, Michael Mann, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.Famous actors and filmmakers frequently make the trip to the Lagoon City for premieres. A Hollywood actors’ strike will prevent many A-listers from promoting their work here, so this year won’t be as flashy as normal.
Despite dire predictions of a mass no-show by big studio productions, the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera is putting on a brave face and has attracted one of the strongest lineups in recent years. “We understand that some talent simply cannot be present… While others will go because to their involvement in the indie cinema industry. Everything seems to be fine. The outlook is bright.Away from the picturesque canals of Venice, the film industry is in trouble as strikes by the major U.S. actors’ and writers’ unions have effectively shut down much of the entertainment industry.Barbera warned that the upcoming release season and awards season will be severely impacted if the strikes continued.
The entire film and television business has come to a halt because no one in Hollywood wants to be seen doing anything wrong by the strikers.The Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike on May 2, followed by the Screen Actors Guild and Film and Television Alliance (SAG-AFTRA) on July 14.Due to the fact that Ferrari was produced by the independent company Neon rather than a major studio, its cast and crew are exempt from strike laws.Since the biopic Priscilla was shot in Canada, its stars won’t have to break the strike to be there.
This week it was announced that Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis, and the rest of the cast are welcome to join Priscilla because of a SAG-AFTRA temporary agreement. But whether or not he will is unclear.Priscilla Presley, whose memoir it is based on, was published in 1985, and she is expected to show up.
She’s an actress in her own right, with credits including Dallas and the Naked Gun movies. Other stars, though, can do little but keep their distance. Bradley Cooper, who wrote, produced, starred in, and directed Maestro (a biopic about conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein), will miss its world debut in Venice. It’s produced by the successful Netflix.A festival spokesman said last month that he would not be attending in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike.After actors went on strike in July, the festival decided to scrap its planned opening picture, Challengers, a tennis and three-somes drama starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, of The Crown.
The premiere of the prestige picture Poor Things will take place during the festival, but neither Emma Stone nor any of the other cast members will be in attendance.The film Ferrari, directed by Michael Man, follows Enzo Ferrari, the company’s namesake and namesake, for a period of three months.
He’s having money problems, his kid just died, and his wife just found out he has a child with his mistress.The SAG-AFTRA strike is the most recent example of a long series of labor issues in the film industry.This is the first time in almost 60 years that both performers and writers have gone on strike, bringing the industry to a virtual standstill and forcing the closure of several film and TV productions.Writers have been crossing the picket line during the WGA strike since it began in early May.
A strike would prevent any Sag-aftra member from working on a film or television production, effectively halting production on nearly all projects now in development.In July, British union Equity issued a statement saying they stand ‘full square [sic] alongside’ its American equivalent, Sag-aftra.Several British stars have spoken out in favor of the US strike, including Brian Cox, Simon Pegg, and Andy Serkis.On July 21, a large group of British performers and actors gathered in Leicester Square to show support for their American counterparts who had gone on strike over wages and working conditions.
According to CNN, the strike was allowed after SAG-AFTRA failed to negotiate an agreement with several major Hollywood studios.The striking actors are demanding more pay and safeguards against robot takeovers.
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