The Venice Film Festival kicks off today and if Cynthia Erivo is an indication, we are about to get a spectacle tonight at the opening gala.
Cynthia is a member of the jury this year. Bong Joon-ho is the Venice 2021 jury president. That means the two back-to-back East Asian Best Director Oscar winners are on this panel, because Chloe Zhao is there too, along with Alexander Nanau, Virginie Efira, Saverio Costanzo, and Sarah Gadon.
Here they are at the jury photo call this afternoon. As you can see, everyone else is pretty business. Cynthia, however, brought the drama. I’m not mad at it, not at all. This is Venice, this is after a year of dialed back no-hype cinema. This can be daytime or evening. She’s chosen a full-length peacock print, long dress to make her debut as a jury member. Glamour is part of this. The films are the main event, obviously, but it never hurts to accessorise – that’s part of the game. Cynthia is here to play. And as I always say, if this look is just the appetiser, what could she possibly have planned for the big carpet tonight?! More on that later but for now…
Let me also show you the badass that is Isabelle Huppert at the photo call for Les Promesses. It’s a pair of well-tailored black pants under a transparent shirt and a jacket, but what she’s wearing is secondary to the attitude, the casual pose, the sunglasses – the cool factor, she is just so f-cking cool.
