Isabelle Huppert opens Venice Film Festival with existential concerns about "weak" state of film

Much like Martin Scorsese and other members of cinema’s old guard, Isabelle Huppert is concerned about the state of film today. “I’m worried about the things everyone is worried about. Making sure that cinema continues to live because it is very weak now,” the esteemed actor said at a press conference for the Venice Film Festival (via Deadline), where she is serving as jury president. “It’s very difficult to make a film. A film is not just an individual effort. It’s really something we deliver to the world. So I am concerned about whether our world will still connect with people. That’s why the Venice Film Festival is necessary. And that’s why I’m so happy to be here.” 

Huppert, who has won Best Actress awards at Venice in 1978 and 2001, as well as a special Golden Lion in 2005, previously emphasized her appreciation of film festivals while speaking with The New York Times. “Festivals are more and more important. We all know that with the development of new ways of watching movies such as streaming platforms—which do have their virtues—movie theaters are somewhat threatened. So festivals are crucial ecosystems for the visibility of movies and for the film industry as a whole,” she explained. “They’re a rendezvous with cinema, where movies are screened in the best possible way, and they showcase different categories of films. To me, they’re instrumental.”

While she does have existential fears for the theatrical experience, Huppert—whose family is the custodian of two art house theaters in Paris—”would like to stay optimistic,” she told the Times. “I believe people will still have a passion for going to the movies,” she said. “One can sometimes ask oneself whether cinema is an everlasting art form and whether people will continue to go to the movies. My inclination would be to say yes.”