Venice and la Biennale

Photos here were taken on my Venice trip, from Sept. 31 to Oct. 3, 2022. I’ve been thinking about going there for the renowned film festival since way back ago. But nothing was really materialized until 2 minutes before the tickets released.

The exact number might not be 2, though. But I'm pretty sure it's single-digit.

So, unsurprisingly, the whole trip appeared a little bit random (just as other things I do). I didn’t decide which movies to watch and where to stay during the nights. Movies weren’t that hard to figure out as there weren’t lots of choices given by time constraints and how fast the tickets being sold out.

The hostel part turned out to be the hard bit. The only affordable option I took wasn’t not the closest to those silver screens – on average just roughly 2-3 hours, round trip, ha ha.

I have to take a train from the mainland to the island, then taking a 40-50 minutes waterbus to Lido, where all the screening took place.

With all the standing in boredom, how come I still managed to find some fun?

Finally, I’ve got to the destination.

One thing I really liked (and didn’t know), was that, the famous Venice Film Festival is only a part of a bigger thing, La Biennale. In addition to movies (or cinema, as they call it), it also has a series of other components – art, architecture and music, to name a few.

The art one (maybe Venice Art Festival?), spans over half of the year, and has an enormous number of exhibitions of modern art at a central venue in Arsenale, the old navy port (?), and bunch of others scattered around the whole Venice. This is really nice: Venice itself is good enough to stroll in, and getting these exhibitions on your way of exploring this floating city is like having Oreo in your vanilla ice cream (??).

McFlurry!!! Yeah!!! (???)

The movies are what I was there for. I am happy I did the right choice.

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed won the Golden Lion. Is there any connection between that and my presence at their premium?

I planned to spend one day just walking in Venice and feeling the vibe of the city. One thing I’d been worried about before I got to Venice is the tourists (even if I’m one of them). I could imagine Venice must be among the most touristy cities even without being there.

Before I came, an Italian friend also told me about the fact that Venetian residents are moving out. People move to the mainland, leaving their homes to airbnb or hotels. The overheated tourism makes the rent simply rocket through the roof. And with the rent, why would one still stick around when they can easily get better-off at elsewhere?

Venice is a lovely place. I hope I can go back to the La Biennale next year.

Let’s close with this picture taken in the pavilion of Cameroon.

Thanks for reading, and have fun (especially if you’re going to La Biennale).