Officially recognised by the FIAPF, the Festival brings together international cinema in all its forms – as art, entertainment and industry – in a spirit of freedom and dialogue.
Our Press Office attended the opening of Venezia 83, where this year’s programme and the future of cinema were presented against a backdrop of profound technological and cultural transformation.
In his introduction to the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, Alberto Barbera reflects on a question that resonates strongly with the work of the Global Campus of Human Rights: what role can cinema continue to play in helping us understand the world and ourselves?
According to Barbera, cinema is facing transformations so profound that it risks becoming unrecognisable, with Artificial Intelligence emerging as one of the most significant forces shaping its future. AI will be explored throughout this year’s Festival, including through a documentary entirely generated by artificial intelligence and a dedicated symposium examining its creative and artistic potential.
But beyond the technological revolution, Barbera’s reflection points to a deeper question: can cinema continue to be a window through which we understand reality, history, politics and the human condition?
The 83rd Festival offers, in his view, reasons to remain confident in cinema’s future – and in its continuing ability to help audiences see further, question the world around them and imagine new possibilities.
Cinema as a tool for human rights advocacy
These questions are particularly relevant to the Global Campus of Human Rights, where cinema is explored not only as an art form, but also as a powerful tool for human rights education, advocacy and social change.
The connection is especially visible this week through the 21st Summer School in Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy, currently taking place in Venice. The programme brings together 25 young activists from 21 countries to explore the intersection between human rights, film, digital media and video advocacy.
Set against the backdrop of the Venice International Film Festival, participants are attending screenings, meeting filmmakers and human rights experts, and examining how storytelling can amplify voices, challenge injustice and inspire action.
This year’s Summer School places a particular emphasis on environmental rights, exploring how film and visual storytelling can make environmental struggles visible and connect local experiences to global human rights challenges.
A festival that looks to the future
The programme of Venezia 83 brings together several dimensions of contemporary cinema, from the international competition Venezia 83 to Venice Open – Out of Competition, Orizzonti, Venice Spotlight, Venice Classics, Venice Immersive and Biennale College Cinema. The Festival also includes the parallel sections Settimana Internazionale della Critica and Giornate degli Autori.
Among the areas receiving particular attention is Venice Immersive, dedicated to immersive media and creative forms including VR, MR, AR and XR – technologies that are increasingly transforming the ways in which stories are experienced and shared.
For the Global Campus, this makes Venezia 83 more than an international film event. It is a space in which many of the questions at the heart of human rights advocacy are being explored through images, stories and new forms of participation.
At a moment when both cinema and society are being reshaped by artificial intelligence, climate change and rapidly evolving forms of digital communication, the question is not simply what the future of cinema will look like.
It is also what kind of future cinema can help us imagine – and help us build.
Follow the Global Campus on social media for interviews, insights and impressions from our participants throughout Venezia 83.