With the curtain closed and the lights turned off on the Lido, the enchantment of an intense and unforgettable edition remains. For seventeen years Bellussi has been the official wine of the Venice International Film Festival, and each time the experience is renewed with the same excitement as the first time.
Opening night is always a moment that takes one’s breath away: rediscovering the magic of cinema, being captivated by the screenings, dining alongside the stars and sharing the pleasure of a special toast with our guests.
From the terrace of the Palazzo del Cinema, looking out towards the beach and the sea, memories of the beginnings resurface, when we personally served our wines enthusiastically recounting their notes and character.
Our glasses, year after year, have accompanied the best moments of gala dinners. For this edition, in the tables of the Excelsior’s grand hall, the golden reflections of Natöra Pinot Grigio DOC 2023 and the depth of Belpoggio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020 warmed the smiles and applause for the protagonists.
This year in Venice it seemed that cinema had returned to speaking softly, without shouting, but entering straight into the heart. The Golden Lion to Father Mother Sister Brother by Jim Jarmusch seemed almost inevitable: a film that aims not at spectacle, but at the delicacy of small gestures, silences and glances. Those who left the theater had the impression that they had experienced a fragment of real life, the kind that sticks with them for a long time.
But it was Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab that struck a deep chord: a work that leaves no escape, forcing the face of pain and collective memory. It was the film that left everyone breathless, proving that the seventh art can still truly shake consciences.
Unforgettable were the performances awarded the Coppa Volpi: Xin Zhilei with his edgy sweetness and Toni Servillo with his now unmistakable intensity. Both showed that acting is not just technique, but pure empathy. In the end, what remains is not only the list of awards, but the certainty that cinema continues to be a refuge and a mirror: a place where one is moved, angered, dreaming and reflecting. It was an edition that made viewers’ hearts beat faster, made even truer by the unconventional conduction of Emanuela Fanelli, godmother of the event.
In this setting, our wines were an integral part of the script: unobtrusive but essential, they made the evenings even more special.
And while the spotlight in Venice is now down, our journey continues. The next curtain will open in Brazil, a new stop on the world tour that started in the United States celebrating 20 years of the Belpoggio winery. Then it will be the turn of China and Europe, until we return home to Montalcino.
Because wine, like cinema, is an endless tale: scene after scene, toast after toast.
Love, Martellozzo family