Kent Jones, Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee On Late Fame As Pic Charms Venice

Director Kent Jones and stars Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee touched down at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday with Late Fame .

Dafoe stars as forgotten 1970s New York poet Ed Saxberger who is rediscovered by a group of well-heeled young admirers, while Lee plays Gloria, a talented but emotionally complex actress who is connected to the group.

The wry drama received a rapturous reception from a 1,400-strong audience as it world premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti section with the Jones, Dafoe and Lee taking to the stage for a short Q&A after the screening.

Jones said the film tapped into his and Dafoe’s relationship with downtown New York and their memories of the artistic community that thrived in SoHo in the 1970s and 80s and was then swept away by gentrification in the mid-1980s