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A view of Venice from THE VENETIAN DILEMMA
Photo: ParmassusWorks

THE VENETIAN DILEMMA
Directed & Produced by: Carole and Richard Rifkind.
Director of Photography: Giovanni Andreotta & Roberto Cimatti.
Edited by: Joshua Waletzky.
Music by: Joel Goodman.
Language: English and Italian with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: USA. 73 min. Not Rated.

On a side street off Venice’s Piazza San Marco, a harried Italian businessman squeezes past mobs of tourists browsing souvenir shops and snapping photos. Stores selling intricate masks and Murano glass dot almost every street corner, but what’s become of the neighborhood bakeries, bars and daycare centers? That’s what directors Carole and Richard Rifkind, New Yorkers and tourists themselves, explore in this revealing look into the lives of the locals of this tourist mecca. The filmmakers depict the daily lives of a fruit and vegetable vendor, a graphic designer with two young children, a writer and environmental activist and the deputy mayor of Venice - all citizens struggling to preserve a sense of community as they raise the next generation.

For years, activists have touted “the sinking of Venice” as the city’s most dire concern. But the Rifkinds introduce what they suggest is an even greater dilemma - what will happen to a tourism-dependent city whose population is swiftly shrinking? In 2004, the annual number of tourists in Venice surpassed 14 million, as the number of residents has plummeted. In 1950, 175,000 residents called Venice home; in 2004 only 64,000 remained. As one Venetian woman says, “We feel like foreigners in our own city.”

Graphic designer Michela Scibilia advocates for “intelligent tourism” and publishes the second edition of a restaurant and bar guide profiling establishments where the local owner is almost always present. Deputy mayor Roberto D’Agostino fights to build a metro system in Venice, which he insists will revitalize the city for residents.

Has Venice become the next Disneyland? Will the city’s number of residents continue to shrink? What ultimately will become of this place fondly known as the Bride of the Sea? The Venetian Dilemma is full of questions and short on answers, but that’s the point. An ideal film for anyone who loves to travel, this documentary exposes a true social predicament and challenges viewers to consider the larger concepts of community and tourism. Deborah Lynn Blumberg
March 16, 2005

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