Andrea Pallaoro's The Echo Chamber opened the 83rd Venice Film Festival's main competition with an eight-minute standing ovation at its world premiere on September 7.
The film marks a departure for Pallaoro, who wrote all his previous features including Hannah and Monica. The Echo Chamber is adapted from Bernardo Bertolucci's final screenplay, which the Italian master was refining before his death in Rome in November 2018. Pallaoro reworked the script alongside Bertolucci's original co-writers Ilaria Bernardini and Ludovica Rampoldi.
Alicia Vikander plays Anne, a physiotherapist drawn into an unlikely affair with Leo (Luca Marinelli), a music producer struggling with drug addiction. Susan Sarandon completes the triangle as Ava, a storied singing star whose comeback album Leo has been hired to produce. According to Deadline, Vikander and Sarandon shared a long hug as the theater lights came up. At the premiere, Sarandon told the audience: "I've still had movies taken away recently because agencies tell people not to hire me still."
Indigo Film produced alongside Rai Cinema and Versus Production. Diego García shot the film; Clément Ducol composed the score. The film runs 123 minutes and opens in Italy on September 10 via 01 Distribution, with world sales handled by Paradise City. No U.S. distributor has been announced. The Venice competition is presided over by jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal.