Yes, absolutely. We had a long conversation with them. They reaffirmed that they want to support the festival.Did they give you some money in the meantime? I gather they are financially supporting some festivals…They gave some financial support to the exhibition we have in the Giardini about the history of the Biennale. We didn’t want to take money directly from them as a festival.I went to the exhibition yesterday – it was fascinating. I loved it.
Nowadays dissent is more individual…The exhibition reminded me that your best actor prizes are still named after the festival’s founder, Giuseppe Volpi, who was a prominent member of Mussolini’s fascist government. Have you considered changing the name of the prize given his associations?We had a discussion. But we decided against it. I don’t agree with the cancel culture movement. I don’t like that attitude. We have had discussion about Volpi’s past and it’s important to have that discussion.