Woody Allen and wife Soon-Yi Previn walked the red carpet at the Venice International Film Festival Monday to celebrate the premiere of the director’s 50th film.
The rare red carpet presence by Allen, 87, and Soon-Yi, 52, was made all the more notable as they were joined by daughters Bechet, 24, and Manzie, 23, People reports.
Allen’s “Coup de Chance” received a three-minute standing ovation, but also spurred protests, Variety reports.
“I was lucky my whole life really,” Allen said at a press conference Monday. “I had two loving parents, I have good friends. I have a wonderful wife and marriage, two children.”
The embattled “Annie Hall” and “Manhattan” director has been ousted from Hollywood’s good graces since the resurgence of sexual abuse allegations by daughter Dylan — whom Allen adopted with then-partner Mia Farrow. Farrow also adopted Soon-Yi with the late German composer André Previn.
The exact timeline of Allen’s relationship with Soon-Yi, who has maintained she never regarded him in a paternal manner, has been the subject of dispute between the couple and Farrow.
The allegations by Dylan, 38, which first surfaced in the 1990s, were the centerpiece of HBO’s 2021 docuseries, “Allen v. Farrow.”
“My reaction has always been the same,” Allen told Variety in an interview published this week. “The situation has been investigated by … two major investigative bodies. And both, after long detailed investigations, concluded there was no merit to these charges. … The fact that it lingers on always makes me think that maybe people like the idea that it lingers on. You know, maybe there’s something appealing to people.”
Asked whether he’s seen Dylan or his son, Ronan Farrow, again, Allen said he was “always willing to but no, no…”
The Venice Film Festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, spoke to The Guardian about his decision to feature Allen’s work on this year’s slate, alongside that of Roman Polanski and Luc Besson. “Chinatown” filmmaker Polanski, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, pleaded guilty in 1978 to the statutory rape of a minor. A French court cleared “The Fifth Element” director Besson of rape allegations in June.
“I’m not a judge who is asked to make a judgment about the bad behavior of someone,” said Barbera. “I’m a film critic, my job is judging the quality of [Polanski’s] films. But of course, it’s a very difficult situation.”
Referring to Polanski’s crimes as “huge mistakes 50 years ago,” Barbera pointed to Allen and Besson both being deemed “not guilty in the face of justice.
“Why should we be stricter against them? We need to have faith in the justice system.”
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