マスクに無観客のレッドカーペット…異例のベネチア映画祭、来月開幕

【ローマＡＦＰ＝時事】伊ベネチア・リド島で来月２日から１２日にかけて、第７７回ベネチア国際映画祭が開催される。長引く新型コロナウイルの流行で、マスク着用とソーシャル・ディスタンス（対人距離の確保）を義務付けた今年は、同映画祭史上異例の年となる。（写真は同映画祭で、審査委員長を務める女優のケイト・ブランシェット）
　今年はカンヌ国際映画祭をはじめ世界中の映画祭が中止されたため、パンデミック（世界的な大流行）真っただ中に開催される最初の主要映画祭として、ベネチア国際映画祭には注目が集まる。
　しかしここに来て、イタリアを含む欧州各地で新型ウイルスの感染者数が急増したことで、条件は厳しくなっている。主催者らは、入国規制で多くの映画製作者や俳優、報道陣や業界幹部が渡航できないため、映画祭は規模を縮小して開催すると予告している。審査委員長のケイト・ブランシェットは来場する予定だ。
　主催者側によると、シェンゲン圏外からの参加者は、新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９）の検査結果を事前に提出する必要がある。ベネチアで２度目の検査も行われるという。
　マスクの着用は会場内だけでなく、屋外エリアでも義務付けられる。会場の座席は、一つおきでの利用となる。
　ファンにとっては残念なことに、レッドカーペットは一般公開されない。華麗な衣装や宝石をまとったスターを間近で見られるのは、カメラマンのみになるという。
　今年、コンペティションに並ぶのは１８作品。会場では５分野、計６０本の作品が上映される予定。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/08/28-16:54）

The Venice Film Festival issued virus safety guidelines on Friday, as organisers hope the oldest such event in the world can maintain its international panache while remaining infection-free.
The 10-day festival that begins next month on the legendary Lido in Venice is likely to be one of the festival's most atypical, given the masks and social distancing necessitated by the lingering threat of coronavirus.
The Biennale di Venezia, as it is called in Italian, has taken on greater importance this year as film festivals across have the globe have cancelled, including Venice's main competitor, the glamorous Cannes Film Festival on the Cote d'Azur in France.
But recent spikes in coronavirus cases around Europe -- including Italy -- have raised the stakes for the festival, the first major international film event to be held in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.
Festival organisers have already warned that the September 2-12 event will be a more scaled-down affair as thousands of filmmakers, actors, journalists and industry executives are unable to travel due to border restrictions.
Still, the prestigious festival -- now in its 77th year -- will attract hundreds of journalists and a mostly European crowd of guests, including personalities such as Australian actress Cate Blanchett, president of the jury.
- No autographs, please -
Those who arrive from outside Europe's Schengen area will have to submit results of a COVID-19 test just before their departure, organisers said, with a second test carried out in Venice.
Thermoscanners will be set up at every entrance to the festival, with disinfecting liquid available in all screening rooms, halls and meeting points.
Masks are mandatory not only inside theatres but in all outdoor areas.
In a move sure to disappoint star-struck fans, the public will not be allowed on the sidelines of the red carpet, that much watched parade of fashion and finery, which will be reserved for photographers alone.
Inside theatres, seats will be alternated to maintain one empty seat between filmgoers.
The Venice Film Festival is a point of reference for the world of culture and cinema where movies often go on to win Oscars at the Academy Awards in Hollywood the following year.
This year, 18 films are in competition, for a total of 60 features in five different categories and 15 shorts.
Fifty countries are represented in the festival.
This year, festivals around the globe such as Cannes, Telluride and South by Southwest have been forced to cancel due to the coronavirus.