There is a specter haunting the Venice Film Festival. No, the specter of communism is not being revoked, but we are talking about Maria Rosaria Boccia, the woman who with her revelations is making the entire government tremble.

During press film festivals, insiders and stars – real or aspiring – live in a sort of bubble isolated from the rest of the world: between meetings, parties, press conferences and screenings, there is usually little time to dedicate to current events, news, sports – even if some journalists have been caught watching their favorite team’s games in the press room. It is usually very rare for a gossip story that does not concern cinema to capture the attention of the Lido audience, but this is not just any story of cuckoldry and expense reimbursements, this story concerns a very well-known and little-loved person in these parts, the now ex-minister of culture Gennaro Sangiuliano. The last public appearance before the scandal broke out over the failed appointment of Maria Rosaria Boccia as a consultant for the ministry, the minister and his wife had paraded hand in hand on the red carpet of the Palazzo del Cinema on the occasion of the opening night.

Meanwhile, at the Festival, several meetings were being held on the reforms that should concern the sector. In the first days of the Exhibition, a very critical letter was read during a meeting organized at the Italian Pavilion by several industry associations in the presence of the Undersecretary for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni. The associations complained, among other things, “the drastic drop in domestic production and the lack of adequate welfare also due to the postponement of the Entertainment Code, factors that are added to a strong decrease in foreign productions in Italy”. Producers and professionals are also very critical of the reform of the Tax Credit, which was widely discussed during the Exhibition, also in the presence of the institutions.

The world of culture and in particular the audiovisual sector has always been considered by the conservative right as a dangerous outpost of the so-called “single thought” and “woke” culture, of which Gennaro Sangiuliano has always been one of the most ferocious detractors. Also for these positions, the former director of TG2 has always been considered one of the leading men of the Meloni government. “I want to free Italian culture from a system in which you can only work if you belong to a certain political group” declared the prime minister during a rally in Sicily on the occasion of the European elections. To this end, since her inauguration Giorgia Meloni has aimed to appoint people close to her area of ​​influence in strategic positions and, with Minister Sangiuliano, she was preparing to reform some key sectors such as cinema.

Sangiuliano and Boccia’s soap opera tells the story of Italy’s decadence

There’s the Joker presentation, but everyone’s talking about Boccia

Perhaps because of this not exactly relaxed climate, the news that is chasing each other after Maria Rosaria Boccia’s revelations are making people at the festival discuss much more than the films in competition or the many stars who have paraded on the red carpet in recent days. In line for the (very expensive) tramezzini in one of the many kiosks of the Lido, waiting to enter the theater or the most exclusive parties, there is nothing else to talk about.

Even on the day of the presentation of Joker, the most anticipated film of the Festival with a superstar like Lady Gaga awaited by hundreds of fans, everyone’s attention was focused on the developments of the story. While waiting for the lights of the theaters to go out, it was possible to hear whispers and crazy uncontrolled voices and there are those who bet that the “best” is yet to come.

Since this is a gathering of cinephiles, one wonders who will be the first producer to option the rights to Maria Rosaria Boccia’s story: who knows, maybe we’ll get a docuseries like Ilary Blasi’s Unica, or, as in the case of Patrizia Reggiani in the film House of Guggi, Lady Gaga herself will bring the story of the woman who is shaking the government with screenshots to the big screen. Whatever happens, Maria Rosaria Boccia has earned herself a bit of glory here too, around the world’s oldest film festival. And without parading on the red carpet like many of her aspiring influencer colleagues.

Boccia insists: “Sangiuliano is under blackmail, I knew he paid the entire ministry”