Alberto Barbera (born 20 February 1950) is an Italian film critic and festival curator, who is director of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

Life and career

Born in

Biella Biella (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the northern Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the Province of Biella, province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of ...

, Barbera graduated in modern literature with a thesis about cinema history, and then started collaborating with the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

film association AIACE, being its president between 1977 and 1989. Between 1980 and 1983 he was the film critic of the newspaper '' Gazzetta del Popolo'', and later collaborated with several publications, including ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'', as well as with radio and television programs. In 1982, he began a long collaboration with the Turin Film Festival, first as press officer, then as secretary-general and member of the selection committee from 1984 to 1988, and finally as director from 1989 to 1998. Between December 1998 and April 2002 Barbera was president of the

, heading three editions (1999, 2000 and 2001). In 2004, he was nominated director of the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, a role he held until 2016. In December 2011, Barbera was appointed president of the Venice Festival for the second time. He was confirmed in this role for two more mandates, with the last term set to expire in 2024. In May 2024, his last mandate was extended until 2026.

Awards and accolades

*2000 — titled ''Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres'' in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; *2019 — ranked one of the ''500 most influential persons in show business'' by '' Variety''; *2021 — International Achievement in Film Award by '' Variety''; *2022 — Special Mention at Gotham Awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbera, Alberto 1950 births Living people People from Biella Italian film critics