Interview with Lav Diaz on "Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors"

13.09.2026•12:45

Lav Diaz continues his prolific connection with the Venice Film Festival, where he won the Golden Lion in 2016 for The Woman Who Left, by returning to the current edition with his new feature film. Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors dives once more into Filipino history to excavate the painful heritage of Christian colonialism through missionary work. In the Palazzo del Cinema, which comes with its own problematic historical connections, the celebrated filmmaker opens up to Lidanoir about the past lingering in the present, facing a neglected chapter of history, and changes in his unique cinematic style.

Interview with Michelle Zhou & Chun Yu on Big Little Things

13.09.2026•9:55

The involuntary deception and white lies threatening to tear romantic and family bonds apart that play a key role in Michelle Zhou's intimate drama are all too familiar to her. In the most literal sense, since the Chinese director based the story of Big Little Things on her and her partner and producer Chun Yu's own experiences. On site at a rain-swept Venice where the queer romance premieres in the Orizzonti slate, Zhou and Yu talk with Lidanoir about bringing their personal struggle for love and acceptance to the screen, filmmaking as therapy, and the central role of queer cinema as an agent of social acceptance.

Interview with Anuparna Roy on "Lovers in the Blue Night"

12.09.2026•7:47

Only last year, her feature film debut won Anuparna Roy the Best Director award in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section. Now she returns to the same competitive slate with her ambitious sophomore work. Lovers in the Blue Night follows an ensemble cast of migrant workers as they strive for social acceptance, economic stability, and love in the working-class districts of Mumbai. Just ahead of the festival premiere, the Indian director sat down for an interview with Lidanoir about the importance of social realism as a central concept, displaying diversity through dialogue in different dialects, and openly showing female desire in a patriarchal society.

Interview with Barbara Kopple on "Union Town"

10.09.2026•12:59

Her debut documentary Harlan County, USA marked Barbara Kopple as a fearless new perspective in non-fiction Film which she used timeless to stand against injustice and inequality. Fittingly, her second work American Dream made her the first female director to win an Oscar for Best Documentary. Union Town continues Kopple's involvement with workers' rights and the collective fight against repressive corporate tactics. Premiering out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, her gripping piece of cinéma vérité chronicles the struggle of gig workers and delivery agents against UPS and Amazon. In Venice posh hotel Excelsior, the filmmaker spoke with Lidnoir about her work in light of current US politics, the new wave of activities documentaries, and the importance of speaking out against repressive structures.

Interview mit Manuel Wetscher zu "Eklipse"

09.09.2026•12:53

Dass er für seinen ersten Spielfilm nur ein A-List Festival in Frage kommt, stand früh für Manuel Wetscher fest - und gelang ihm auch mit einer Weltpremiere in Venedigs wichtigster Nebensektion Orizzonti. Dort erzählt Eklipse von einer Kinderfreundschaft Ende der 90er, als die Jahrtausendwende und eine totale Sonnenfinsternis biografische Wendepunkte markieren und. Familiengeheimnisse ans Licht bringen. Vor Ort im Palazzo del Cinema spricht der österreichische Regisseur mit Lidanoir über die autobiografische Inspiration der Geschichte, den Dreh nahe der Orte seiner Kindheit und das zentrale Motiv HIV in der damaligen und heutigen sozialen Wahrnehmung.

Interview with Venice Critics‘ Week Artistic Director Beatrice Fiorentino

06.09.2026•12:05

As a film critic and film programmer, Beatrice Fiorentino looks back on intense collaborations with a number of prestigious Italian publications. A year after winning the 2014 Akai Prize as best film critic at the 71st Venice Film Festival, she became part of the “Film della Critica” panel of the National Union of Italian Film Critics and, just the next year, of the selection committee for the Venice International Film Critics’ Week. For more than half a decade, she has shaped the independent section focused on debut features into a space of artistic discovery and topical timeliness in the position of its artistic director. At the Lido’s Casa della Critica, Fiorentino speaks with Lidanoir about this year’s contentious political climate, diversity within the Settimana della Critica and beyond, and why she believes in the persistence of film festivals.