In search of Liam and Noel Gallagher, What’s On Editor Jenna Campbell headed to the Venice Film Festival
There’s a brief moment on Saturday morning where I feel like I’m in some sort of dream. I’m on the public water bus – the Vaporetto – between the centre of Venice and Lido, an 11km-long barrier island that sits just off sure from the historic centre.
It’s early, about 6:30am, and the streets of Venice are still airing. Commuters are on their way to work, tourists are consulting upside-down paper maps, and I’m crossing the water to attend the 83rd Annual Venice Film Festival.
I’ve somehow swapped the streets of Manchester City Centre, for the sun-soaked Lido boardwalk, and I’m heading down to grab my accreditation for the prestigious film festival and see one of the year’s most anticipated films.
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“Don’t Look Back In Anger” charts Liam and Noel Gallagher’s epic reunion tour, Oasis Live ‘25, one of the most anticipated rock ‘n’ roll comebacks in many decades. The film, created by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders’ fame, is an unapologetically uplifting account of the biggest musical event of 2025, capturing the experience and emotions of the band and their fans across the world.
Spanning two hours of rehearsal, backstage, and onstage footage, as well as the first joint interviews with Noel and Liam in over 20 years, the film explores the profound emotional impact of this global cultural moment and what the band’s music means to audiences and generations worldwide.
It’s a backstage pass and the viewer’s seat at the table, detailing the highs and lows of the reconciliation, and the tour itself, with both Liam and Noel extremely candid in their reflections. I was lucky enough to attend the first official screening of the film and attend the world premier of the film in Venice on Saturday night.
The Venice Film Festival is one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, widely considered second only to Cannes. Its often agreed that festivals like Venice serve as the main launchpad for important Oscar contenders.
Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have attended this year including George and Amal Clooney, Orlando Bloom, Michael Fassbender, Robert Pattinson, Amanda Seyfried, Kiefer Sutherland, Laura Dern, Kate and Rooney Mara, and many more.
Two see two lads born and raised in Burnage on the red carpet was also a pinch me kind of moment. But on Saturday night, both Liam and Noel Gallagher, along with the film’s creator Steven Knight, and directors, Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace walked the red carpet and attended the screening.
Here, I take a look back at a whirlwind 48 hours in Venice, from catching water taxis to and from Lido, and trying to catch a glimpse of Liam and Noel to what it’s like in and around one of the world’s most prestigious festivals.
While many will associate Venice with landmarks like the Piazza San Marco, St Mark’s Basilica, and Doge’s Palace, or know it for its famed gondolas traversing narrow canals, as well as glassmaking, opera and fresh seafood and cicchetti, the focus during the film festival is all on Lido.
The barrier island, which is about a 20-minuite ferry or vaporetto ride from the main sights, was once a military outpost in the 12th century, but transformed into a seaside resort, and was a favourite of European aristocrats by the end of the 19th century.
It also served as the real-life inspiration and primary setting for Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice and Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film adaptation. Since 2014 alone, the festival has hosted four best picture winners – Birdman, Spotlight, The Shape of Water and Nomadland.
Once I arrived onto Lido, I got myself down to the main festival area, which spans a number of important buildings including the Palazzo del Cinema where the festival director’s office sits and the red carpet can be found; the Sala Darsena, where we watched the first Oasis documentary screening with press and industry; and Palazzo del Casino, which features press areas, the photo call room for Hollywood stars and the room where film conferences are held for the movies being show.
Just down the road is the only five-star hotel on the island, Hotel Excelsior, which dates back to 1908. While there are other luxury hotels on different island that offer more privacy, this is the spot that you’ll see fans, TV crews and photographers camped outside as they desperately try and catch a glimpse of some of the world’s biggest movie stars and celebrities.
It’s where I found myself coming back to several times over the two days after hearing that it was here that George and Amal Clooney were spotted getting off a private water taxi at the hotel’s docking area. Many stars arrive to the festival, including press conferences and premieres here.
On the Friday, I knew Liam and Noel may have arrived, and later saw they were photographed at the airport, but I kept a close eye on the docking area from the balcony area above and found myself transfixed by the comings and goings. Celebrities and influencers arrived – admittedly there was a fair few that I did not recognise, as a flicker of lightbulbs went off and the celeb’s own teams grabbed social media footage of them.
That afternoon I acquainted myself with the surroundings, where to find the press materials, where to drop my work bag and laptop before the viewing tomorrow, and generally soaked up the atmosphere at the festival. I also saw people putting up parasols in front of the red carpet so they could have the best spot in the house for when stars walked down the carpet for that night’s premiere.
Saturday, up bright and early and whizzing across the Venetian Lagoon and walking across to Sala Darsena for the early Oasis film screening which was for press and industry. Afterwards, and after traipsing around in the 30C heat looking for somewhere to work, I headed up to the press room and was able to get a seat and get my head down to write up my review ahead of the official world premiere at 9:30pm that night.
Unlike festivals like Cannes, many screenings at the Venice Film Festival are open to the general public without requiring industry accreditation. This meant that when I stepped out from the dark press room into the blistering sun late afternoon the area around the Palazzo del Cinema was packed. The area in front of the red carpet when fans can queue was heaving, though I did manage to speak to two Italians who had struck up a friendship when they visited Manchester last year to see Oasis at Heaton Park.
While the earlier screening was smart/casual the premiere requires you dust off your gladrags. In theory this sounds great, but when every street around the festival is packed, and all the bars and cafes are fully booked, finding somewhere to get changed is slightly trickier.
I managed to talk myself into a beach bar and escaped to a rather sandy toilet to swap dresses and pop on some heels, while a colleague was forced to get changed behind an industrial sized bin. This is the less glamorous side of covering major events and festivals.
We then dashed inside the building where the Oasis film was being shown. The red carpet extends into here which means, with a ticket (as we did), you can grab a decent spot to view the film stars. After waiting for almost an hour, and with the room becoming busier and hotter, Liam and Noel paraded down the carpet, stopping to sign posters, football shirts and memorabilia.
Finally, after searching for two days, I had found Liam and Noel Gallagher, and felt like a little bit of Manchester was in the room. We then headed up to the cinema, where Liam and Noel took to their seats as members of the press and some public cheered them on – Oasis mania at Venice was reaching it’s peak.
The film, and its Manchester stars, received a eight-minute standing ovation as the formerly estranged brothers held hands and raised them triumphantly into the air. Noel even looked to be wiping tears away as Liam gleefully hyped up the crowd who were cheering them on.
Fans were clamouring to get an autograph, and Liam even broke with the festival’s traditions by obliging them. There was even a Manchester City flag, which one fan flew over the balcony of the prestigious movie theatre. During the film there was lots of clapping and cheering, and the audience even sang along to some of the songs, while many had tears in their eyes reliving one of the most memorable summers in decades.
Wandering back to the docking area for boats back to the centre of Venice, slightly delirious from a full-on day working the Venice Film Festival, the sense of occasion wasn’t lost on me. Above all though, the chance to see a major film like this, and to witness Manchester represented loud and proud on one of the world’s most prestigious red carpets was really a dream come true.
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