Adam Driver enjoyed a memorable moment this week at the Venice Film Festival as his film Ferarri received a 6 minute standing ovation as he reacted emotionally to the end of the film. The movie is released 25th December.
The packed house at the Sala Grande Theatre showered Driver and Mann with a six-minute-standing ovation. Driver fought back tears at the tragic conclusion of the film. As he stayed in his seat, Mann helped him up to receive the applause for the Italian-set film.
“Ferrari” has been the big ticket of Venice, and the premiere didn’t disappoint, finally bringing some star power to the Lido. Driver, who plays racecar driver Enzo Ferrari in the film, approached crowds of screaming fans, scribbling out a few autographs. These groupies lined up for hours in the Italian sun to catch a glimpse of the actor best known for playing Kylo Ren in “Star Wars.”
While Venice usually leads with glamour and A-list talent, this year’s festival lost a roster of huge stars — including Zendaya, Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender — due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Even Penélope Cruz, who plays Laura Ferrari in Mann’s film, decided to skip out on Venice due to the optics of looking like she crossed the picket line. (The cast of “Ferrari” is allowed to do press since its an indie movie from distributor Neon, but Driver was the only big star in attendance.)
The press conference also saw Driver vocally show his support for the SAG-AFTRA strike which both shows no sign of stopping and no end to the scheduling disruption it appears to be causing.
“Why is it that a smaller distribution company like Neon and STX International can meet the dream demands of what SAG is asking for — this is pre-negotiations — the dream version of SAG’s wishlist, but a big company like Netflix and Amazon can’t? And every time people from SAG go and support a movie that has met the terms of the interim agreement, it just makes it more obvious that these people are willing to support the people that they collaborate with, and the others are not.”
