Venice Film Festival

This picture is from last night on the red carpet of the prestigious Venice Film Festival, part of the Venice Biennale.  It is the oldest film festival in the world and just so happens to be down the street from our apartment on the island of Lido. The best picture is awarded the Golden Lion or Leone d'Oro, and this years choice was the film Faust by Russian director Alexander Sokurov. So we bought tickets to see the winning film, and it was interesting...and by interesting I mean crap.  We were both not fans and were fidgeting in our seats after the first hour planning a discreet exit.  I guess I don't really get these high end artsy movies all that much.
The festival itself was full of the things you would expect from a Hollywood opening.  Red carpets, famous people being ogled at from a safe distance, more paparazzi than can possibly be necessary.  Some of the stars that were out here this week were George Clooney, Madonna, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Al Pacino, Kiera Knightly, amongst others.  We didn't get to see or hang with any of them, but they were just blocks from our apartment so by sheer proximity, they are all our new best friends.  No, I can't get you George's autograph, so stop asking!  
People from all over the world come out to see this event, and for us it was great because it was within walking distance from our apartment.  Getting dressed up, going to a film festival on the island you live on in Italy, and having two dollar wine served as you watch a newly released major motion picture is a pretty solid Saturday night...I don't care how bad the movie is.  


**Note: For the picture above, we snuck on to the red carpet at the end of the night and had the only person left around take the pic.  Almost looks as if we are supposed to be there!