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63rd Venice Film Festival: A Practical Guide

Screening Venues

  • Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema): Passholders and members of the public;
  • Sala Volpi (Palazzo del Cinema): Passholders and Invitation-holders;
  • Palabiennale (Tendostruttura, Via Sandro Gallo): Passholders and members of the public;
  • Palalido (formerly “Palagalileo”): Press Passholders, Industry Passholders and Industry Operatives;
  • Sala Perla (Casinò): Daily Press Passholders

To ensure the safety of all Festival attendees, access to the venues of the 63rd Venice International Film Festival will be strictly limited to controlled entry points only. The areas surrounding said venues will be closed off to all vehicular traffic until Tuesday, September 12, 2006. Attendees will not be permitted to take bags into the venue areas. No audiovisual recording or photographic equipment will be permitted in the screening areas. Bags can be checked-in at a designated bag storage area.

Public-Access Structures and Services

  • Maxi-Screens: Three Maxi-Screens will be set up for public viewers, thanks to the kind collaboration of Eye Candy: The screens will be located in front of the Palazzo del Cinema, at Palalido and in the Square in front of the Casino.
  • MovieVillage: A Movie Village will be operational in the Square in front of the Casino extending to the Garden Event area. Here, actors and directors can meet members of the public, associations can showcase their activities, home-video stores can market rare and hard-to-find videos and DVDs. The Movie Village is designed as a commercial and entertainment complex which will host stands from the world of cinema and movie-making, a selection of eateries including a restaurant open until 2:00 a.m., ticket offices, internet stations and information desks for last-minute hotel reservations and hospitality services.
  • Spazio Nikki Beach: This new event location at the circle in front of the Casino was designed by Nikki Beach as a venue for meetings, presentations and interviews in collaboration with RaiSat and RTL 102.5. Inside, a restaurant open to the public will be operational late into the night.
  •  Pagoda: This round structure, located in front of the Hotel Des Bains, will once more become a focal point of nighttime entertainment.
  • Intensified Ferry Services: In addition to the newly-introduced ferry Route 20 in operation since June 15 to provide a ferry connection between the Film Festival area and the city of Venice proper, there will also be a dedicated direct ferry service to the Festival area. Festival-goers can avail of this rapid service every 20 minutes (3 trips per hour; 150 places on board per trip) from Venice Railway Station and calling only at Piazzale Roma (car depot) – Zattere – San Zaccaria – Lido Casinò. Rapid services will be operational until 12:00 Midnight. Between Midnight and 2:00 a.m., the ferry service will make 4 tips. After 2:00 a.m., there will be a further 2 trips. Where necessary, ferry service will be guaranteed until the end of the last screening to enable film-goers to attend late-night screenings and make the trip back to their bases in Venice and Mestre on the mainland.

Structures and Services for the Press and professionals

  • Passes: Press, Industry and Cinema Passes can be picked up on the 1st Floor. A service desk will be operating on the right-hand terrace from 9.00 a.m. on August 29, 2006.
  • Press Office: The Press Office is located on the 3rd Floor of the Palazzo del Casinò.
  • Press Room: A dedicated Press Room is located on the 3rd Floor of the Casinò. This year, 80 workstations are available for writing and forwarding texts and images. There is also a specially designated area for Wi-Fi enabled laptops.
  • Festival Press Conferences: Official Festival Press Conferences will be held on the 3rd Floor of the Casinò. Conferences on films participating for awards in Venezia 63, on non-competing films and on films in the “Orizzonti” section, will be held each day starting at 11.00 a.m.
  • Conference Photo-Calls will be held on the terrace, 3rd Floor of the Casinò. The 3rd Floor is also the location for exclusive interviews on the Wella TV-Call broadcast on RaiSat and on the Wella Radio-Call broadcast on RTL 102.5 which are made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of Wella.
  • Terrazza Martini: This Hotel Excelsior location which serves as a prestigious backdrop for interviews with writers and for presentations is available also this year thanks to ongoing collaboration with Martini & Rossi.
  • A Photo-Journalist & Telereporter Support Center will be operational on the 3rd Floor of the Casinò. Support and equipment rentals will be available from Canon Professional Service.
  • Press Boxes: Approximately 1,800 electronically-operated mail boxes will be operational on the Ground Floor of the Palazzo del Casinò. These will be used to distribute Press Books and Festival Communication and Documentation to the Press.
  • Photo – Image CD – Audio Clip – TV Clip Pickup Point: Photographic, audio and visual materials can be picked up on the Ground Floor of the Casinò, next to the Press Box area. Image excerpts from selected films will be available to the Press on the image.net website.
  • Industry Office: The Industry Office at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival will be open to producers and industry operatives from September 1 through September 8. Market Screenings will be held in the Zorzi and Pasinetti Rooms at the Palazzo del Cinema, and at the Videobox at the Palazzo del Casinò. The Industry Lounge with Terrace, located on the 1st Floor of the Casinò, will be open to all Industry Passholders. Facilities available include a Business and Information Center, Internet stations, wireless Internet access, an Open Bar and a Meeting Desk. The Buyers Lounge, located on the Ground Floor of the Hotel Excelsior, will be available for meetings reserved for Buyers, Sellers and their respective Guests. Facilities include Internet stations, wireless Internet access, an Open Bar and a Meeting Desk.
  • Biennale Westin Card: A dedicated access key will give Industry Passholders access to a designated Industry Lounge at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Lido di Venezia. The Industry Lounge serves as a location for informal and business meetings for audio-visual operatives right in the very heart of the Festival, on the Ground Floor of the Hotel Excelsior. Cardholders will also be entitled to a 20% reduction on Restaurant prices and Hotel beach facilities.
  • LidoPass: Venice Lido has put together a number of services that are useful to Festival attendees. Access to those services has been packaged in one single card. The Lido Pass card will be available to Press Passholders, Industry Passholders and Exhibitors at the Movie Village. Lido Pass entitles holders to discounts and privileges at shops, restaurants, pizza restaurants and various services on the Venice Lido island. Lido Pass was made possible thanks to the coordination of Oltrex and collaboration with AVAL, the Association of Hoteliers in Venice Lido.
  • Catalogues: The Film Festival Catalogue will be on sale at Electa Bookstores located in the atrium of the Casinò and next to the external ticket office in the square opposite the building entrance.
  • Spazio Electa: Film Festival merchandising will be on sale at this location, opposite the Casinò.