The Venice Film Festival, which marks its 80th edition this year, has announced that its opening film will be replaced by Comandante by Italian director Edoardo De Angelis, against the backdrop of a historic strike in Hollywood.
The festival, which runs from August 30 to September 9, had indicated in early July that it would be opened by Challengers, a film by Luca Guadagnino starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. However, this feature film “will not participate in the festival following decisions taken by the production,” the Biennale di Venezia announced in a statement, without giving further details.
This change comes as American actors and screenwriters on 14 July went on strike, of a magnitude not seen since the 1960s, which is paralysing American film and television production.
The actors are demanding an increase in their "residual" remuneration, which has plummeted with the advent of streaming, and guarantees against the cloning of their voice and image without consent, fearing that they will be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Belgian shipwreck story
The Venice Film Festival announced on Saturday that Edoardo De Angelis' Comandante will be the new opening film, with its world premiere taking place on Wednesday 30 August in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema.
Inspired by a true story, Comandante recounts the rescue of 26 Belgian castaways during the Second World War by a submarine captain, played by Pierfrancesco Favino.
Pierfrancesco Favino plays the submarine captain. Credit: Biennale di Venezia / Indigo Film / O'Groove
In October 1940, Salvatore Todaro 's Italian Royal Navy submarine comes across an armed merchant ship which it shoots down and sinks.
However, the captain also decides to save the 26 shipwrecked Belgian sailors aboard the ship. To make room for them on board his submarine, he is forced to navigate on the surface of the water for three days, visible to the enemy forces and endangering his life and that of his men.
“It is a great honor for us to open the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Comandante is a movie that talks about strength and Salvatore Todaro personifies its sublime form: to fight the enemy without ever forgetting they are human beings," De Angelis said.
The Italian director is known for his Indivisible film released in 2016, and the series The Lying Life of Adults which came out this year on Netflix.
