Woody Allen said he has “never had anything terrible happen” to him, speaking at the press conference for his out-of-competition entry Coup de Chance today (Monday, September 4).
The conference took place as a French filmmaking collective placed signs around Venice criticising his presence at the festival.
Over the last 24 hours, French film industry activist group Tapis Rouge, Colere Noire (translation: Red Carpet, Black Anger) has placed banners in prominent locations in Venice, plus in Paris and Deauville in France. The banners are protesting the inclusion of Allen, Roman Polanski and Luc Besson in the festival.
The signs hold messages including ‘Rapists in the spotlight’, ‘Sexist festival, feminist response’, and ‘Will the Golden Lion go to a rapist?’.
Allen’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow has alleged her father sexually molested her in 1992 when she was seven years old. Allen has always denied the claims and a prosecutor declined to press charges against the director.
Meanwhile Polanski admitted to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in the US in 1977, and is unable to travel to the country where he could be arrested. He did not attend Venice to promote his out-of-competition title The Palace.
French director Besson was cleared of a rape charge in June by a French court, and made an emotional appearance at the festival to promote his Competition title Dogman on Thursday, August 31.
There were no direct questions in the press conference about the protests or the controversy around Allen’s selection. Instead, Allen discussed the role of chance in his life, Allen said, ”I’ve been very lucky my whole life; I had two loving parents, I have good friends, I have a wonderful life and marriage. Two children. In a few months I’ll be 88 years old, I’ve never been in a hospital or had anything terrible happen to me.
”When I started making films, people chose to emphasise what I was able to do well. I’ve been very lucky with my filmmaking, and have had over my lifetime much undeserved praise and an enormous amount of attention and respect. Nothing but good fortune – I hope it holds out.”
“Of course it’s early this afternoon,” joked the filmmaker, ” - so far I’ve been very lucky.”
Allen’s Coup de Chance – his first French-language film – premieres in Venice today. The director received a mixed reaction in the press conference, with roughly half the assembled press standing to applaud his arrival, while many others remained seated.
The Venice Film Festival continues until Saturday, September 9.
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