Caterina Murino to host opening and closing of Venice 80

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 9 - Italian Bond Girl Caterina Murino will open and close the 80th Venice Film Festival 2023 within La Biennale di Venezia, directed by Alberto Barbera.
    Murino, who starred alongside Daniel Craig as Solange in 'Casinò Royale', will host the opening night of the international festival on August 30 and the closing ceremony on September 9, when the winners of the Lions and other official prizes will be announced "Venice has always had a special place in my heart," the actress told Ansa.
    "All cities in the world are unique, but none can match its majestic beauty," she continued, describing her role at the film festival as "an immense honor and a huge responsibility".
    "I will do my very best to live up to it," said Murino.
    "Throughout these years I have tried to represent Italy in the world. Now finally I will return home to the most international and prestigious stage that Italian culture possesses," concluded the actress.
    Born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1977, Murino studied acting under Francesca De Sapio in Italy, while as a model she lent her face to several advertising campaigns.
    She began her acting career on the small screen in the fiction 'Le ragazze di Miss Italia' (2002) directed by the late Italian film director Dino Risi, before making her cinema debut in the same year in 'Nowhere' (2002), the first film of the late Chilean writer and director Luis Sepulveda.
    Murino rose to international fame in 2006 as the new 007 Bond Girl in 'Casino Royale', and since then she has featured in cinema and TV productions across the globe. She is currently filming 'The Opera!' by Davide Livermore and Paolo Gep Cucco. (ANSA).