The 82nd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia will have a double Pre-opening on Tuesday, August 26, with the program in the Sala Darsena (Palazzo del Cinema) at the Lido enriched by a new special preview.
At 6 pm will be screened in world premiere Origin, the Venetian Lagoon (30′) by the famous French photographer, director and environmentalist YannArthus-Bertrand, already present at the Venice Film Festival with his works Human (2015) and Woman (2019).
Origin, the Venetian Lagoon is the extended version of the introductory short film of the section Natural Intelligence (Arsenale) of the Biennale Architettura 2025, curated by Carlo Ratti. The screening of Origin, the Venetian Lagoon – which will be followed by a dialogue between the director Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the curator of the Biennale Architettura Carlo Ratti and the artistic director of the Biennale Cinema Alberto Barbera – will precede the announced screening, at 9 pm, of Queen Kelly (1929) by Erich von Stroheim, restored with recovered materials.
The Biennale Architettura2025 – open at the Giardini and the Arsenale until 23 November and entitled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective – starts from the fact that architecture has always been a response to a hostile climate. Today, while the climate is becoming less and less mild and in 2024 the Earth has reached the highest temperatures ever recorded, the Biennale Architettura invites collaboration between different types of intelligence to rethink together the built environment.
Origin, the Venetian Lagoon by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is the extended version of the introductory short, at the Corderie dell’Arsenale, of the section Natural Intelligence, that together with the Artificial Intelligence and Collective Intelligence sections proposes adaptation experiments to be faced in these times. The film expresses the fascination for a territory, the lagoon of Venice, located between land and sea. Seen from the sky, elements such as islands, islets, canals, colors, reflections, create unique scenarios that testify to a coexistence between man and natural forces that lasts for centuries. Origin, the Venetian Lagoon tells the story of the Venetian lagoon with an original look, encouraging us to look at the nature that makes it up with new eyes, in order to preserve it at its best.
«I’ve been fascinated by Venice for over forty years, to the point of dedicating two books to it as soon as the 80s – says Yann Arthus-Bertrand – A few years later, I filmed the Venice lagoon for Human and since then I’ve dreamt of devoting a complete film to it. When I was asked to make a short film for the Biennale Architettura, I was overjoyed and accepted straight away. It was an opportunity to create an artistic, sensitive film, where the music embraces the beauty of the lagoon. Then La Biennale di Venezia asked me to make a feature-length version, and I was delighted to go back. There I met Giovanni Pellegrini, a passionate Venetian drone pilot, with whom I captured some unique images. A storm over the lagoon gave us a rare natural moment, with time standing still. Thanks to the drones, I was able to show a different Venice, far removed from the postcard images, more mysterious and wilder. I wanted to tell the story of its origins: human intelligence in the face of a hostile environment. This film is my tribute to the lagoon and to the men and women who built Venice.»
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, biography
Photographer, filmmaker andactivist, Yann Arthus-Bertrand works for a humanist ecology through his passion for life, the natural landscapes of our planet and the men and women who inhabit it.
He is the author of the best-selling book, La Terre vue du ciel (Earth seen from the sky), a compendium of the most beautiful landscapes in the world to “bear witness to the beauty of the world and try to protect the Earth”. His photographs will be the subject of exhibitions outside museums, thus making them accessible to all audiences in several countries around the world.
In 2005, Yann created the Good Planet foundation. Recognized as being of public interest, its vocation isto raise awareness among the greatest number about ecological and solidarity issues, and to encourage actions for a more sustainable world. His credo: «Acting makes happy». Between 2009 and 2013, he also developed the projects 6 billion Others, then 7 billion Others, whose principle is to meet the inhabitants of the planet and gather their testimonies to draw asensitive portrait of humanity. More than 6,000 testimonies were filmed in 84 countries. Directly inspired by this project, will follow the films Human in 2015 and Woman in 2019, the two great humanistic works of Yann presented both at the Mostra.
In 2009, Yann created Home. Designed as a travel diary, consisting solely of aerial images, the film tells about the special link that unites man to Earth. It is the first film to be released on the same day, on June 5th at midnight, in 181 countries and across all media. 15 years after its release, the film claims 800 million viewers.
With his company Hope Production, a non-profit making company created in 2011, Yann has since produced and directed numerous discovery and awareness films on environmental issues such as Legacy, notre héritage and more recently Nature, pourune réconciliation.
