Venice Movie Star Photography Award, organised in collaboration with AQA Communication, is the first photographic competition dedicated to the best images taken during the Venice International Film Festival.

Launched in 2004, the Award aims at highlighting the work of those photographers present at the famous Venetian show who, through their photographs, capture the most important moments of the event. The Award originates from the idea that the worlds of cinema and photography are deeply related and connected. The project for the Venice Movie Star Photography Award underlines this link giving photography a central role as a form of art and communication.

Since it began in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival has hosted the best of world cinematography. Each year photo-reporters have continued to tell the world of the glories, the success and the gossip of the ten incredible days in which the ‘Palazzo del Cinema’ is in the spotlight with the international press dedicating their front pages to the event.

The pictures taken by the photographers during the Festival often have a short life: only one day if they are published in newspapers, no more than some weeks if used in a magazine. But among these shots there are some real works of art, moments of deep intensity immortalized by the photographers’ lenses, capturing forever the most intimate emotions of the protagonists in this Venetian extravaganza.

The first five editions of the Venice Movie Star Photography Award have achieved a success that went far beyond the expectations of the organisers. The participation of important names in photography, cinema and journalism as members of the award’s jury has contributed to this success. Artist such as John Landis, Ferzan Ozpetek, Raoul Bova, Valeria Golino, Isabella Ferrari as well as being part of the jury, have also supported the initiative, attending the Award ceremony and giving the prizes to the winners in person.