Brian de Palma, Rossy de Palma, Nadine @ MasterCard talk today

By Nesta Morgan

Iphoto by Alex Deleon

Mastercard, official sponsor of the Venice International Film Festival for the third year in a row, is pleased to unveil an exclusive event to ignite a unique discussion among four of the most influential and inspirational figures in contemporary cinema.

The talents attending the 2019 Mastercard masterclass have significant and noteworthy backgrounds: from movie direction to acting, from screenwriting to movie production, and a wide variety of cinematic experiences, which enable them to share insights and views that can innovate and break the rules.

The discussion will be an opportunity to explore the influences behind their success and see from their perspective how their careers and messages can be an inspiration for the future generations of filmmakers and cinema lovers, while leaving a lasting legacy to stimulate people’s creativity for years to come.

The 2019 Mastercard conversation will feature: acclaimed American filmmaker Brian De Palma, who directed unforgettable milestones of modern cinema such as Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito’s Way, Mission Impossible, awarded a Silver Lion in Venice in 2007 and a Silver Bear in Berlin in 1969; celebrated Spanish actor and fashion icon Rossy De Palma, Pedro Almodovar’s muse, who fuses together cinema, fashion and visual arts; Valeria Golino, one of the most compelling actors in Italian cinema, producer, writer and  director of two feature films, Miele and Euforia; brilliant Lebanese film director, writer and actor Nadine Labaki, the first female Arab filmmaker ever to receive a major prize at Cannes (2018 Jury Prize) and to be nominated for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film) for her moving refugee drama Capharnaüm.

Brian De Palma is one of the masters of contemporary cinema, the mind behind extraordinary Hollywood box-office hits, who introduced an unconventional perspective on female characters, in horror, drama and spy story genre films. From Carrie, the horror movie that earned Sissy Spacek an Academy Award nomination, to gangster movie milestones as Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito’s Way, and unforgettable action movies, such as the first installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, he developed iconic feature films that are nowadays considered as eternal classics. A leading member of the New Hollywood generation of film directors, De Palma’s filmography has become a powerful and endless source of inspiration for young filmmakers around the world.

Rossy De Palma’s artistic career spans over 30 years and is indissolubly tied to Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who discovered her at a café in Madrid in 1986. Since then, she became one of his iconic muses and acted in several of his films – starting from her on-screen debut in La ley del deseo – earning two Goya nominations for her performances. Besides her acting career, she started singing and modeling for noted fashion designers, such as Jean-Paul Gaultier. Rossy is a unique and energetic artist, who in the last three decades has been working in fashion, visual art and television, fusing these artistic experiences with her strong female personality. In 2015, she served as member of the official jury in Cannes.

Valeria Golino has made a name for herself not only in Italy, her native land, but also among international audiences. She has been acting since the early 80s and featured in almost one hundred films such as Rain Man, Four Rooms, Escape from L.A., Leaving Las Vegas, Respiro, Il capitale umano to name a few, collecting several prizes, including two Coppa Volpi Awards for Best Actress at Venice. Golino also wrote and directed two feature films, Miele (2013) and Euforia (2018) – both presented in Cannes (Un Certain Regard) – in which she powerfully investigated the female perspective with her peculiar directorial gaze. In 2016, she served as member of the official jury in Cannes.

Nadine Labaki’s career as an actor, writer and director has always focused on the female condition. Her first feature film Caramel, a joyous and rebellious ode to female complicity with which she debuted in Cannes in 2007, became the most successful Lebanese film export of all time. She kept on exploring a world inhabited by complex, multifaceted women and was back in Cannes in 2011 with her sophomore film Et maintenant on va où?, and in 2018 with Capharnaüm, a poignant manifesto on damaged childhood, refugees and the cracks in a society that turns its back on humanity, which earned her several awards and nominations. In 2015, she served as member of the Un Certain Regard jury, which she headed it in 2019.

MASTERCARD AND CINEMA – An opportunity to “see life through a different lens”

Through its partnership with great experiences and events around the world, including the Venice International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival and the Berlinale, and its own legacy of iconic brand storytelling with the evolution of Priceless, Mastercard is working to launch a movement where art, business, society and people can come together and explore a more inclusive and innovative future. With its state-of-the-art expertise in technology, surveys and creativity, Mastercard’s commitment to cinema makes perfect “sense and sensibility”.

Through the creation of a series of events, Mastercard is focused on continuing to create priceless experiences, moments and surprises for its partners and cardholders, and helping people to experience their passions in new and exciting ways, in turn starting something priceless for themselves.

This year, on the occasion of the Venice Film Festival, Mastercard is also starting a unique and unprecedented campaign designed to inspire the next generation of filmmakers. The campaign will be presented in all relevant locations of the Venice Festival. Among the protagonists of the campaign, will be top female cinema makers including Robin Wright, Nadine Labaki, Rungano Nyoni offering their unique point of view about the power of cinema to ignite change.

“Film is a powerful platform to showcase that women are not just equal but able” Robin Wright, actor, activist and founder of “Pour le Femme”.

“Cinema is one of the most powerful tools to ignite change” Nadine Labaki, director of Capharnaüm

“Cinema is like traditional oral storytelling, its power lies in the shared experience” Rungano Nyoni, director of I’m not a Witch