Nanni Moretti’s ‘It Will Happen Tonight’ Earns Nine-Minute Ovation At Venice World Premiere — SkimNews
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- "It Will Happen Tonight" received a nine-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival world premiere on Saturday, with Moretti given a returning hero's welcome at the sold-out gala competition screening
- Nanni Moretti marked his first Venice world premiere in 37 years — his last was 1989's Palombella Rossa, which screened in Critics' Week amid suggestions its exclusion from main competition was politically motivated
- "It Will Happen Tonight" is loosely adapted from Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo's short story "Hungary Heart"; Moretti previously adapted Nevo's novel Three Floors Up, and the film stars Louis Garrel and Jasmine Trinca as a bookseller and actress whose attraction plays out intermittently
- Moretti explained his long absence wasn't a deliberate snub but scheduling — he typically shoots in summer, making films ready for Cannes rather than Venice; this time he shot in autumn and proposed it to festival director Alberto Barbera, who accepted
- The Venice selection makes "It Will Happen Tonight" only Moretti's second Golden Lion contender after 1981's Sweet Dreams, which won the Special Jury Prize; his nine main-competition Cannes premieres include a 1994 best director win for Aprile and the 2004 Palme d'Or for The Son's Room
- Moretti suffered a heart attack in spring 2025 but appeared in good form at Venice, receiving lengthy applause when he arrived at the film's press conference earlier in the day
Why it matters: For a director who has spent decades anchoring Cannes (nine main-competition premieres, a Palme d'Or), choosing Venice for only his second-ever Golden Lion contender — and receiving a nine-minute ovation after a 37-year gap — cements his late-career flexibility between the two festivals; the heart attack detail makes the sold-out gala and warm reception a personal comeback story as much as a critical one.
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