You can watch almost anything from your sofa now.
So why do filmmakers, actors, critics and studios still travel to Venice every September to stand in front of cameras and wait for a room full of strangers to react to a film?
Because, despite the rise of streaming, the Venice Film Festival still knows how to make a movie feel like an event.
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival is taking place from September 2 to 12, 2026, bringing filmmakers and stars to the Lido for one of the most important events on the international film calendar.
And the festival’s influence has not disappeared simply because audiences now have Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming platforms competing for their attention.
If anything, Venice may have become more important.
A premiere is still different from a release
Streaming has made films easier to access.
But accessibility is not the same thing as cultural impact.
A film premiering in Venice can suddenly become part of a global conversation before most audiences have even seen it.
Critics review it. Social media reacts to it. Actors discuss it on the red carpet. Distributors begin talking about its commercial potential.
And awards speculation can begin almost immediately.
Reuters notes that Venice has become a particularly strong predictor of the Academy Awards, with eight of the last 10 Best Actor or Actress Oscars and eight of the last 13 Best Director awards going to films screened at the festival.
That is influence that a streaming homepage cannot easily reproduce.
Streaming has not stayed outside the festival
The interesting part is that the streaming industry is no longer simply challenging traditional cinema from the outside.
It is becoming part of the festival system.
Take this year’s opening film, Danny Boyle’s Ink.
Netflix acquired its U.S. and Latin American rights before its Venice premiere. The film is also receiving a theatrical release in several international markets before arriving on streaming.
Another example is Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, a Netflix film competing for the Golden Lion in Venice this year.
The message is difficult to miss.
The old argument that cinema and streaming are completely separate worlds is becoming harder to maintain.
Venice still sells the idea of the big screen
There is also something streaming cannot completely reproduce: being in the room.
A premiere creates a shared experience.
Hundreds of people watch the same film at the same time. They laugh together, sit in silence together and applaud together.
That may sound romantic, but it has real value in an industry increasingly dominated by algorithms and personalised recommendations.
Streaming platforms are very good at answering the question, “What should I watch?”
Film festivals answer a different question:
“What is worth talking about?”
That distinction matters.
And the red carpet is only part of it
Venice is also a meeting point for the business of filmmaking.
Directors, producers, distributors, actors, critics and buyers gather in one place. A film can arrive relatively unknown and leave with international attention.
The 2026 festival’s competition includes filmmakers such as Werner Herzog, Martin McDonagh, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Lee Chang-dong, while major stars continue to make the journey to the Lido.
Even this year’s slimmer Hollywood presence has not erased Venice’s influence. Instead, the festival is showing that its identity is broader than simply being a showcase for major American studio films.
The real reason Venice still matters
Streaming changed how we watch films.
It did not eliminate our desire to discover them.
Venice provides something the streaming world struggles to manufacture: prestige, anticipation and a sense that a film matters beyond the number of people who click “play.”
The future of cinema may involve more streaming, more hybrid releases and fewer traditional theatrical windows.
But as long as filmmakers still want their work to be discovered, debated and remembered, there will probably still be a place for the red carpet.
And Venice understands that better than most.
Source: La Biennale di Venezia, Reuters and Variety.
