The Venice Film Festival has no official market — no Marche du Film, no European Film Market — meaning the deals on the Lido tend to happen quietly, in hotel suites at the Excelsior and over spritzes along the Lungomare. But sellers still see the festival as a prime launchpad, using it to float prestige projects to the right buyers, banking on critical heat to position art house titles that could otherwise vanish in a crowded marketplace.

“It’s a different kind of hustle,” says one veteran European sales agent. “You’re not going to Venice to presell a title and close out your financing in a week. But for the right finished film, it can be the place that generates that first wave of buzz and gets buyers excited so you can close deals in Toronto and beyond.”

The Venice Film Festival ha

See Full Page