Venice Film Festival will go ahead in September

Actress Cate Blanchett will preside over this year's programme

Actress Cate Blanchett will preside over the 77th iteration of the Venice Film Festival. EPA

The Venice Film Festival will go ahead as scheduled at the beginning of September, Luca Zaia, the governor of the region around the Italian city said on Sunday, May 24, as the spread of the new coronavirus in the country slows.

Organised by the Biennale di Venezia company, Venice is the world's longest running film festival. In January it announced that Cate Blanchett would preside over its 77th iteration.

Due to the lockdowns imposed on the film industry across the world to limit the spread of the virus, the festival will probably be attended by fewer productions, said Zaia, who is also a board member of the Biennale di Venezia.

The Cannes Film Festival, the world's largest, was forced to postpone its latest programme in May due to the virus epidemic.

Italy plans to lift all travel curbs from Wednesday, June 3 and travelers from European Union countries will be able to enter without going into quarantine.

The country recorded 119 new deaths from the Covid-19 epidemic on Saturday, May 23, bringing the death toll in Italy from the outbreak to 32,735, the third highest total in the world after the United States and Britain.