There was a lot of curiosity about the presence or absence of influencers and content creators at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The consequences of Selvaggia Lucarelli’s scoop on the sale of Balocco pandoro have had consequences not only on Chiara Ferragni’s reputation but on the entire category. In addition to talents, the galaxy of influencers also involves agencies, press offices, sponsors and all the professionals who work for them (stylists, make-up artists, assistants, etc.).

Why influencers go to Venice

In previous editions of the festival there was a lot of talk about the opportunity to invite people who had nothing to do with cinema or the world of entertainment in general to the red carpet. But Venice doesn’t live only on the seventh art and those who invest in this event have chosen to be represented by well-known faces from the web.

Many creators are hired by the sponsors of the Festival, others are there because they were invited by those who were in charge of promoting this or that film so that it could be said that so-and-so was present at the premiere. But there were also those who paid for the ticket to an important screening out of their own pockets to be able to parade in front of the photographers before the arrival of a big star.

This mechanism was explained very precisely by Francesco Chiofalo, aka Lenticchio. A former contestant on Temptation Island, Chiofalo has maintained a certain popularity after the end of the reality show as an online personality; during an episode of the podcast Talking Barber, Chiofalo lashed out at some colleagues who, in his opinion, were too full of themselves. To demonstrate his theory, Lenticchio gave the example of the presence of influencers at the Venice Film Festival: “Like other colleagues of mine, I was invited to the Venice Film Festival, where niche films are made. Why? Because the question they ask themselves is: how do we bring these films to the general public?” The answer that these marketing offices give themselves, according to him, is precisely to invite influencers onto the red carpet. The risk, however, according to Chiofalo’s theory, is that this way of doing things damages the influencers themselves first and foremost, who end up becoming easy targets for criticism and mockery. “When I went to the Venice Film Festival, especially the women, all of them feel like it, but they are called on the red carpet just to bring the general public to a niche event. But my colleagues don’t understand it,” Chiofalo explained, “they think they are invited there because they are important people and this is madness, that’s why I can’t go around too much in my environment. Do these people really think they are someone? We are nobody and we don’t influence anyone!”

After that interview, many people said they were surprised and agreed with Francesco Chiofalo’s analysis, perhaps a little colorful but shareable, and the video of his statements started circulating again on social media after the first influencers and creators started parading on the red carpet of the Film Festival. In fact, many important brands have also decided this year to focus on the famous faces of Instagram and TikTok to advertise themselves. But as Lenticchio predicted, they have been promptly targeted for their clothing or their behavior on the red carpet.

What has changed this year

But compared to previous years, there were some changes: only people invited by sponsors could walk the red carpet, while those who had a ticket or had been invited by the distribution or promotion of the film had to go straight to the theater without posing for photographers. The only people authorized to head towards the audience were those who worked on the film as actors and actresses, of course, but also directors, screenwriters, musicians; everyone else was stopped by security and sent back to the theater. This explains why in recent days images have been circulating online of many influencers and creators being stopped while they were heading towards the people stationed in front of the red carpet. Let’s face it: not exactly a pretty sight.

And yet, despite the “pandoro gate” and the more stringent rules than in the past, even influencers, creators and television personalities (from the winner of GF Perla Vatiero to Roberta and Alessandro of Uomini & Donne) were present at the Lido. A sign that these people still enjoy some form of popularity and that, above all, they are still able to “influence” more than someone. In short, it is clear that the toy is dented, but not broken yet.

@screenweek Alessia Lanza tries to reach fans on the red carpet of #Venice81 ❤️ #alessialanza #filmdavedi #davedi #cinematok #screenweek ♬ original sound – ScreenWEEK