The Night Before The Room Next Door Premiere, Tilda Swinton Spent the Evening With Chanel

Tilda Swinton was the guest of honor at Chanel dinner’s last night in Venice, held at Harry’s Bar, whose legendary banquettes have seen countless movie stars and jet setters gossiping and let loose over Bellinis and succulent meringata cakes.

Looking ethereal in a flowing pale pink chiffon dress from the Paris Deauville collectsion, the actress and Chanel ambassador touched down in Venice to promote The Room Next Door by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, one of the most anticipated films of the 81st Venice Biennale, where she stars alongside Julianne Moore. The plot, which promises to be controversial, has been kept mostly under wrap until it premiered tonight. Swinton is Martha, a war correspondent with a difficult relationship with her resentful daughter; Moore plays Ingrid, a novelist. They were friends in their youth, and after years of being out of touch, they reconnect again in extreme but strangely sweet circumstances.

“It’s a movie about the bond of friendship, about understanding what that bond truly is, and what you’ll do for each other because of it,” explained Swinton, without revealing much of the synopsis. She shared that in recent years, she’s been experiencing something similar herself. “I don’t know if it’s a stage of life, but I’m reconnecting with people I haven’t seen in twenty, maybe thirty years. It’s an absolute grace in my life to rediscover that closeness, to catch up on everything that’s happened in our lives. It’s wonderful; it shows that the bond is much greater than time. It’s magical, and ultimately quite mysterious.”

Swinton described the film as “a meditation on life, made with a profound sense of authenticity and real love from all of us.” She praised working with Almodóvar, calling it a masterclass, as it was the director’s first time making a feature film in English. “I’m in awe of what he’s managed to achieve at this stage of his life. The consistency of his energy is miraculous, truly extraordinary.”

When asked if she still enjoys acting, Swinton admitted, “I’ve never really enjoyed being an actress; I try to distract myself from it. I suppose acting involves a kind of psychopathy—it requires a certain porousness. Ultimately, I believe it’s an opportunity to make something good out of that porous quality, which otherwise could be quite stressful. Acting isn’t something I think about; I didn’t study it or read about it, so every film feels like my first—and every film feels like my last. I’m always trying to escape, but when I’m drawn back in by a subject or a relationship, it always feels like something new. That’s my way of avoiding boredom or fatigue, because I always intend to stop—until the next movie, obviously.”

Italian director Alice Rohrwacher was also at the dinner to promote the short film Allégorie Citadine (An Urban Allegorie), co-written and co-directed with French artist JR and supported by Chanel.  Starring Chanel’s ambassador Lyna Khoudri, it’s based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, as told in the Greek philosopher’s book The Republic. The allegory envisions humanity living in chains, watching shadows move on the walls and mistaking them for reality. “We were both familiar with the text and deeply fascinated by it,” they explained. This marks the second collaboration between the filmmakers, following their 2020 co-directed film Omelia Contadina. They valued the opportunity to further their individual research through this project. “Short films offer more expressive freedom—you’re not bound by narrative constraints, so you can take more risks.” The movie draws on both Rohrwacher’s and JR’s talents for creating immersive, poetic, and almost metaphysical atmospheres that blur the line between reality and dream—a theme Rohrwacher explored in her 2023 feature film La Chimera, which has achieved significant international success.

“I wasn’t expecting that in the least,” explained Rohrwacher, who is currently working on the script for a contemporary silent movie. “I thought the subject was so specifically Italian—few people are familiar with ancient Etruscan culture. But its success made me reflect on the meaning of roots. Just like trees, cultural roots intertwine, and it’s wrong to claim them as ‘my roots.’ There’s no private ownership when it comes to roots, because the connections between life and death, between us and our ancestors, are universal. They speak to a shared sense of humanity.”

At the dinner, the atmosphere was festive yet relaxed, enjoyed by directors Joe Wright, Joanna Hogg, James Gray, and Luca Guadagnino, along with actresses Hayley Bennett, Gaia Gerace, and Carlotta Gamba, among others. Chanel’s presence was conspicuous on the Biennale’s red carpet, where the brand exquisitely outfitted superstars such as Taylor Russell, Winona Ryder, Sigourney Weaver, and Sophia Coppola—and, of course, Tilda Swinton at this evening’s eagerly anticipated premiere of Pedro Almodòvar’s The Room Next Door.