The Lancia Café thus symbolises the sponsorship of Lancia, which is Main Sponsor of the Venice Film Festival for the fifth year running. The Brand is making a fleet of Lancia Delta “Hard Blacks” available for the Festival, the special series distinguished by an exclusive body colour with matt finish combined with the glossy black of the roof which represents Italian style to the full. During the festival, the Lancia fleet will transport VIPs and films stars to and from the Venice Lido and the red carpet.

During the event, the Lancia Café will be hosting events and meetings – organised by Lancia but also by third parties – according to a calendar which is yet to be finalised though some dates can already be announced. During the opening day, on 1 September, the special Hard Black, autographed by personalities from the world of show business, cinema and industry, will be displayed on the terrace of Hotel Excelsior, in front of the Lancia Café. A true “one-of-a-kind”, the exclusive car will then make its entrance on the red carpet where it will remain for the whole duration of the Festival and be embellished with the signatures of the most important stars of international cinema, concluding its long journey with an auction for the Mandela Foundation.

On Sunday 5 September, the ceremony of the Kinéo Prize “Diamanti al Cinema Italiano” will take place, awarded by the public to Italian cinema, which returns to Venice for its eighth edition. Also, on the evening of Monday 6 September, the Lancia Café will host a dinner dedicated to filmmakers organised by Lancia and the media company Finch & Partners. The party organised by the monthly Ciak will instead take place on 8 September, which will also celebrate 25 years of the cinema magazine edited by Piera Detassis.

Many guests will be bringing the Lancia Café to life, starting with Maurizio Galimberti, one of Italy’s most important contemporary photographers and particularly highly regarded by film stars for his unique style and original technique. Once more, Galimberti’s presence this year, complete with Polaroid, is the ideal occasion to immortalise the actors of the Lancia Café. The actress Jo Champa will also be a special guest, promoter of Italian cinema in Hollywood and now firmly established as a producer.

Many delegations are also expected to make an appearance. On Friday 3rd September the Lancia Café will also stage meetings between the Italian and international press and delegations for the films “Reign of Assassins” by Chao-Bin Su co-directed by John Woo with Michelle Yeoh, “Gorbaciof” by Stefano Incerti with Toni Servillo, “I baci mai dati” by Roberta Torre and subsequently a party in honour of the film “Somewhere” directed by Sofia Coppola, with a cast including Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Benicio Del Toro, Michelle Monaghan and the beautiful Italian actresses Laura Chiatti and Simona Ventura.

On Saturday 4th it will be the turn of the delegation for “A woman” by Giada Colagrande and of the party in honour of“Stardust” by Nicholas Provost with Dennis Hopper, Jon Voigh and Jack Nicholson; on 7th September the delegation for the competing Chilean film “Post Mortem” will arrive, while on Friday 10th  the delegation for “Burney’s version” will be hosted, with Dustin Hoffman, together with the other stars, Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike and Minnie Driver.

Various partners will be present at the Lancia Café, among which the “Premium Cinema Salon”, set up by Mediaset Premium and dedicated to exclusive interviews with the stars of cinema, Moet Chandon, the champagne of the cinema, with the champagnerie prepared by the Maison, in addition to the company Corradi which has prepared innovative shading sails for the Lancia Café.