The 2020 edition of the Venice Film Festival will go ahead as planned in September, the region's governor has insisted.
Luca Zaia, governor of Veneto, confirmed on Sunday that the world's longest-running festival, which is scheduled to run between 2-12 September, will proceed, according to Variety.
Zaia's confirmation comes days after Venice Biennale officials, which oversee the film festival as well as other events, pushed back its Biennale of Architecture to 2021, but kept the film festival's dates, despite the two usually overlapping.
The governor explained on Sunday that the Biennale of Architecture was postponed due to problems with constructing the necessary pavilions and went on to insist that the film festival is happening, although there will likely be fewer movies showcased this year.
Earlier this month, a letter signed by Venice's artistic director Alberto Barbera was sent to a wide range of film industry personnel to find out their concerns and suggestions for the 2020 edition and whether they'd be willing to attend the event.
"We know that it would be simply impossible to plan a festival without knowing if you all are willing to use the Festival to give a new start and a strong sign for keeping cinema alive, even in these difficult times," wrote Barbera, editors at Variety reported.
The full line-up of films showing at the festival is typically unveiled in July. In January, Cate Blanchett was named the jury president, but it is unclear if this will remain the case.
The Cannes Film Festival, which would have had its closing night over the weekend, was cancelled this year and officials revealed they hoped to screen some of their planned premieres at Venice and other festivals.
Italy, which was one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis, has been slowly coming out of lockdown in recent weeks and is currently set to reopen its borders for European Union (EU) tourists on 3 June.