A video by Volodymyr Zelensky was shown at the opening of the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2022. MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP The 79th Venice Film Festival, the oldest film festival, opened on Wednesday August 31 in the evening with Catherine Deneuve as guest of honor and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as a surprise guest. Inside the Palais du Cinéma, enthroned on the Lido facing the sea, the 78-year-old French star received an honorary Golden Lion for his entire career. Obviously moved in her long blood red dress, the one who had won the prize for best actress in 1998 at the same place launched a “grazie” to the public, after the reading of a fiery tribute by French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin. Catherine Deneuve receives a Lion of Honor at the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival, August 31, 2022. MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP Earlier today, when asked by Agence France-Presse about the meaning of this award, the actress who always goes on filming, had confided: “We do not look back. It’s not a refusal, it’s that we don’t have time. » Read the episode: Article reserved for our subscribers Catherine Deneuve and her double A Netflix film opening Ukraine then burst onto the palace stage through a video message from Volodymyr Zelensky, who called on the cinema world to not “to forget” a war that “has not lasted 120 minutes but for 189 days”. At the end of his speech, the haunting list of first names of all the children and adolescents (up to 18 years old) killed in the conflict, along with their date and place of birth, paraded against a black background. After the speeches and tributes, the cinema resumed its rights with the official screening of the opening film, White Noise by New Yorker Noah Baumbach, adapted from a novel by writer Don DeLillo. The 52-year-old filmmaker, author of Frances Ha, The Meyerowitz Stories or Marriage Story, finds his favorite performers there, his companion Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver. “It’s a film about life and death. We have to accept that they go hand in hand,” he explained. Read also Article reserved for our subscribers “Marriage Story”, a sensitive chronicle of a Western-style divorce The selection of this film as the opening is a new mark of recognition for the online video giant Netflix, which produced it , and which is lining up no less than four films and a series on the lagoon this year. In total, 23 feature films (including only eight by female directors) are in competition for the Golden Lion, awarded on September 10. Julianne Moore president of the jury Twenty years after having won the interpretation prize there for Far from paradise, Julianne Moore was chosen to chair the jury, which notably includes in its ranks Audrey Diwan, the French director who won the Lion of But last year. Among the highlights of the festival, the announced arrival of a cohort of Hollywood stars. As of Thursday, Cate Blanchett should climb the stairs for “Tár” from Todd Field, before giving up the spotlight the next day to Timothée Chalamet. The Franco-American, already present last year for Dune, is back for Bones and All by Luca Guadagnino. Penelope Cruz is present with two films, a year after her Venetian coronation at Almodovar, and festival-goers hope to see the landing of British pop phenomenon Harry Styles, starring in the film by his companion Olivia Wilde (Don’t Worry Darling) . Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Music: Harry Styles electrifies the Accor Arena One of the most anticipated stars is probably the Cuban actress Ana de Armas, noticed in James Bond girl last year and who embodies Marilyn Monroe sixty years after his death. This biopic, signed Andrew Dominik, promises to cause a sensation, with a feminist reinterpretation of the life of this cinema icon, based on the story of the same title, Blonde, by the novelist Joyce Carol Oates. The highly anticipated new Iñarritu Also eagerly awaited by film buffs, the new opuses by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu (The Revenant), Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), Joanna Hogg, with the magnetic Tilda Swinton on the bill, or even of Jafar Panahi, imprisoned in Iran, and veterans Walter Hill and Paul Schrader. French authors are not to be outdone, from Rebecca Zlotowski to Romain Gavras, via the actor who went on to direct Roschdy Zem. Not to mention the playwright Florian Zeller who, after the success of The Father with Anthony Hopkins, presents The Son, another adaptation of one of his plays, with Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern. The World with AFP