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`Frida` takes center stage at Venice Film Festival
Venice, Aug 29: Mexican mariachis, socialist revolutionaries and the troubled love affair of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera took Venice by storm on Thursday at the start of the world`s oldest film festival.
Venice, Aug 29: Mexican mariachis, socialist revolutionaries and the troubled love affair of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera took Venice by storm on Thursday at the start of the world's oldest film festival.
Julie Taymor's "Frida," starring sultry Mexican actress Salma Hayek, staged its world premier at the beach-side Palazzo del Cinema, opening the 11-day Venice Film Festival to enthusiastic applause that set it up as a strong contender for the event's coveted Golden Lion award.
Hayek tackled what she called the role of her lifetime as the controversial painter whose marriage to world-renowned muralist Rivera and affair with Leon Trotsky captivated the politically charged art world of the 1930s and '40s.
But it was a long seven-year road for Hayek who said she overcame tremendous odds to finally get the story of her idol onto the screen.
"There were so many reasons nobody wanted to make the movie. It's about a hairy woman and a fat man who were Communists. She was bisexual, and they were both Mexicans," the petite Hayek, wearing a light blue chiffon dress, told a packed press conference.
"But this is a character I've been in love with since I was 14. This is a story about my people ... and has been an inspiration for many, many years," she said.
Now posters of Kahlo, with her trademark unibrow and hand-stitched indigenous blouses, are dotted around Venice's Lido, which is teeming with movie fans and tourists eager to get a glimpse of debut films and their stars.
"Frida" is one of 21 films in the main competition, which features Hollywood offerings such as Sam Mendes' "Road to Perdition" and festival favorites, including Takeshi Kitano's "Dolls." The winner will be announced on September 8.
Moritz de Hadeln, the new director of the event after 22 years at the helm of the Berlin Film Festival, has vowed to bring glamour back to Venice, which has more recently been a showcase for art-house films.
There will be a taste of the glitz and glamour later Thursday when the first wave of stars glide down the carpet for the official inauguration.
Bureau Report
Hayek tackled what she called the role of her lifetime as the controversial painter whose marriage to world-renowned muralist Rivera and affair with Leon Trotsky captivated the politically charged art world of the 1930s and '40s.
But it was a long seven-year road for Hayek who said she overcame tremendous odds to finally get the story of her idol onto the screen.
"There were so many reasons nobody wanted to make the movie. It's about a hairy woman and a fat man who were Communists. She was bisexual, and they were both Mexicans," the petite Hayek, wearing a light blue chiffon dress, told a packed press conference.
"But this is a character I've been in love with since I was 14. This is a story about my people ... and has been an inspiration for many, many years," she said.
Now posters of Kahlo, with her trademark unibrow and hand-stitched indigenous blouses, are dotted around Venice's Lido, which is teeming with movie fans and tourists eager to get a glimpse of debut films and their stars.
"Frida" is one of 21 films in the main competition, which features Hollywood offerings such as Sam Mendes' "Road to Perdition" and festival favorites, including Takeshi Kitano's "Dolls." The winner will be announced on September 8.
Moritz de Hadeln, the new director of the event after 22 years at the helm of the Berlin Film Festival, has vowed to bring glamour back to Venice, which has more recently been a showcase for art-house films.
There will be a taste of the glitz and glamour later Thursday when the first wave of stars glide down the carpet for the official inauguration.
Bureau Report