All language subtitles for Venice 24-7 4of6 The Biennale 720p HDTV_Subtitles01.ENG

Venice. One of the most stunning
cities on Earth.

Over 50,000 tourists arrive here
each day

for the carnival, culture
and canals.

But what they don't see is how
this city works.

This is Venice from the inside.

Around the clock, emergency teams
fight to keep a city built on water

safe and working.

With unprecedented access to police,
fire and medical teams,

we come face to face with
the unique daily challenges
and life-and-death drama.

Up to yesterday evening
she was all right.

This morning she was not responsive.

This is Venice 24/7,

where the ordinary becomes
extraordinary.

Summer has arrived in Venice,

and this season is special.

Every two years, the city
is transformed for
the Biennale Festival.

What began as a small showcase
for artists over 100 years ago

is today a modern art festival
involving over 80 countries.

British artists like Henry Moore,
Francis Bacon and Anish Kapoor

have all exhibited here.

Spreading through the whole city,
14th-century homes, moorings
and churches

become pop-up galleries.

It's a huge logistical challenge
for Venice.

400,000 extra visitors are expected,
and countless pieces
of priceless art.

At the docks on the city's
west side,

Massimiliano Brusato runs
a transport company.

Today, Massimiliano
is transporting a sculpture

by renowned Belgian artist Jan Fabre
to the site of his Pietas
exhibition.

As with everything here, moving
heavy goods around the city
must be thought about differently.

This work of art weighs
a whopping four tonnes.

So Massimiliano needs to deploy
all his 20 years' experience

plus a special boat.

The premiere will take place in the
Escuela Nueva de la Misericordia,

built in the 16th century
as an artists' academy.

Today, the contemporary exhibit is
being managed by Jan's assistant,
Edoardo.

Venice is not made for transport.

The water is a barrier, and
the distances can only be covered
with special machines.

It's not a place to do things
normally!

For Edoardo, the entire exhibition
rests on the safe delivery
of the main piece.

We are planning to open the crate

and take it out.

Of course, I am a little bit worried

but it's something that I'm sure
is going to be fine.

There it is.

And apparently it's good.

It seems to be all right.

The first part of the transport
went well.

Now we still have to take it
out of the crate and move it
on the platform.

Of course it will be not easy.

Transporting the art isn't the only
challenge in Venice's Biennale.

Bringing contemporary work into
fragile 16th-century spaces

creates its own problems.

Venice is the only place in the world
that can offer you

an opportunity to be in buildings,
venues and palazzos like this

School of the Misericordia.

You never know what can happen
suddenly

because they can assure us that
the floor here is full.

With "full", I mean
there's no cellar.

But once we position a six-tonne
crane and move a four-tonne block
of marble,

if they were wrong, then the floor
can't stand it.

But of course it's something
that you cannot prevent.

While the city prepares for the
six-month-long art festival,

Venice's emergency services
carry on as usual.

At the fire station, director
Alessandra Bashar is overseeing
the day shift.

For engineer Alessandra, being
a female fire chief in Venice

makes her unique.

'I'm a woman. I'm from the south
of Italy. This is quite unusual
in Italy.'

Every job has to be equal
opportunity, an equal opportunity
job.

But some jobs

are not so easy for a woman.

Working in a city as unusual
as Venice

means Alessandra and her teams
must work closely with all
emergency services.

But there is never long to catch up
before the next call-out
comes through.

The team, led by Juliano Menardi,
a fireman of over 30 years,

has been called out to a gas leak,
and the source needs to be found.

As much of Venice is built on wood,
any risk of fire must be treated
seriously.

The gas technician gives them
a quick overview of the situation.

The firemen need to get inside
the building so the supply
can be cut off.

But the door is locked
and there's no answer.

Finally, they get into the apartment
to find the source of the leak.

This man will have no gas
until the pipe is repaired.

The news isn't good
for this elderly man

as it may take 24 hours to repair
the leak and switch his gas back on.

On the north side of Venice at
the 16th-century Escuela Nueva,

Edoardo is overseeing the
installation of Jan Fabre's latest
work for the Biennale.

Preparing to unload a four-tonne
marble sculpture onto 500-year-old
floors

requires absolute precision.

It's a good risk possibility.

Of course it's big, so any problem
will be my problem.

But of course I try to not have
any problems to be solved!

This is the first of five sculptures
which Edoardo needs to install
for the exhibition.

Each one weighs several tonnes.

Of course, it's just a fifth
of the whole exhibition

so it's only the beginning.

The other sculptures are as
complicated as this to be moved
and transported.

Across town, on the island
of San Giorgio,

another artist is preparing to pull
off a modern exhibit in one of
Venice's famous ancient landmarks.

The British sculptor, Anish Kapoor,
is preparing to showcase his work

for this year's festival in the
16th-century Palladian San Giorgio
Maggiore church.

This has got to be one of the most
beautiful churches in the world.

Also, there is a purity
and perfection

to the geometry of Palladio's
intersecting circles and tubes

that is mysterious.

I've felt very strongly about this
church for a very long time.

Kapoor's installation,
entitled Ascension,

involves a pillar of white smoke
being drawn over 50 metres up

into the dome of the church.

No easy feat in a tall,
draughty building.

It's a phenomena, let's say,

which is a project to attempt
to make an object

out of the ephemeral.

To actually form a column.

In order for that to happen, the
conditions have to be just right

so we have to be rather careful
about them.

The column won't rise properly
if there is too much draught.

Just another of the challenges
of working in this city.

But Kapoor is a seasoned
30-year Biennale veteran.

It's a kind of gathering
of the tribe, every two years.

We come to celebrate but also get
a special sense

or a sense of what's going on
in the art world.

And hopefully be beguiled
by one or two things

and feel that they take us out
of ourselves.

As artists across the city prepare
for the six-month-long showcase,

the whole of Venice becomes
a living, modern gallery,

attracting hundreds of thousands
of art lovers as well as tourists.

Many arrive by boat, with over
1,000 cruise liners and ferries

passing right through the heart of
Venice's historic centre each year.

Since the invention of
the cruise liner at the turn
of the 20th century,

the port has grown to accommodate
ships of increasing volume,

including controversially dredging
the shipping lanes
to make them deeper.

In the last decade, the number of
ships docking here has doubled,

making this Europe's fourth biggest
port.

Boat pilot Andrea Pistorello
is on his way

to guide a cruise liner carrying
2,500 passengers safely
to the terminal.

The ships arrive all year round

and usually dock
for just a few hours.

To help steer the liners safely past
Venice's historic facades,

the pilots must board each one
for their entry into the city.

To navigate the 300-metre-long
cruise liner through the busy
shipping lane

which is just 200 metres wide
at its narrowest point,

the instructions must be spot on.

GIVES INSTRUCTIONS

Helping guide the ships in
are two tug boats,

one of which is piloted
by Davide Gezzo.

Any shifts by this giant cruise
liner could spell disaster

for Venice's delicate architecture.

Nothing is left to chance.

Even the length of the tow cable
must be carefully calculated.

As the cruise ship is carefully
steered down the Giudecca Canal,

just a few metres separate its bulk
from the ancient city.

Affording a view for captain
and passengers alike

which is truly breathtaking.

In Venice, it's like the world
in the postcards.

But every place is a special moment.

The vessel now is in a safety
position.

Everything has gone very well.

And now all passengers can go
to visit Venice.

While tourists flock into the city
during the Biennale,

resident Venetians also enjoy
the transformation.

Dr Michele Alzerta is director of
Venice's accident and emergency
department.

It's a bit strange because the usual
spaces of Venice are suddenly
transformed

into something different.
This morning, for instance,

I popped into a church which
I usually pass in the mornings

and I looked around and the church
was transformed.

Any old building that you are used to
seeing in one way suddenly changes.

It lends a note of colour
to the city.

As medics, it's not very different
from the usual influx of tourists

which we have every year.

We don't see a huge increment
in the number of tourists
with the Biennale.

During the Biennale, as with
the rest of the year,

the paramedics' four water
ambulances head onto the canals

up to 50 times a day.

It's mid-afternoon, and the team
is called to a local bar.

An elderly lady has collapsed
in a restaurant

so Dr Andreas Frezo is leading the
team to the district of Cannaregio.

SIREN WAILS

Finding their way around Venice is
always their first challenge.

The lady has regained consciousness.

Her blackout seems to have been
caused by a drop in blood pressure.

On examining the results of an ECG,

Andreas thinks the problem is part
of an existing heart complaint.

They administer some vital fluids
and check her blood pressure again.

They manage to stabilise the
patient, but she's still fragile.

They decide to take her back to A&E
to run further tests.

In the district of Cannaregio,

at the Escuela Nueva
de la Misericordia,

Jan Fabre's exhibition
is finally ready.

My work? It's a miracle
of installation.

It's a kind of spiritual place

where a kind of different religion
and spiritual values meet.

I like the strong tradition here
at the Biennale, Venice.

The world comes here every two years.
Every time, before every exhibition,

every world premiere of a
performance, I'm still nervous,
like a small child.

Yes!

This is the first time
Jan's installation will be seen
by the public.

For his assistant, Edoardo,

getting everything ready has been
a work of art in itself!

It was not easy to make it happen.

All the difficulties of being in
Venice and logistically it's not
normal to work here.

You have to accept a lot of limits
that the city's giving you.

But we made it and apparently
the result is quite good.

I like to be at my own openings
because it's a celebration of beauty

and of art.

I see the complete exhibition as a
spiritual battlefield for beauty.

So it's good to not hide yourself

and to be ready to get killed!

Getting large-scale modern art
to work in Venice's 16th-century
buildings

is a challenge also faced by artist
Anish Kapoor.

For his installation, "Ascension"
a column of white smoke must rise

from the intersection
of the transept and nave.

To stage modern art
in a 16th-century setting,

the team, overseen by curator
Lorenzo Fiasci, has found
a 21st-century solution.

As you see the duct outside
the Basilica,

it's 120 metres or 150.

You can see outside it's amazing.
It's like a snake around
the Basilica.

It's also beautiful.

Even though small draughts can wipe
the smoke out,

the installation rises
to the challenge.

Well, Venice is all about being
a historic city

and that it has the Biennale
is bringing wholeheartedly
to its very centre

the contemporary, and sometimes
a very radical contemporary.
It's a good thing.

In Cannaregio, the big night
has arrived

for Jan Fabre and his assistant,
Edoardo.

After months of planning, the Pietas
exhibition is finally open
to the public.

Visitors are asked to wear a special
pair of hand-made slippers,

encouraging them to feel part of
the installation.

Today I've had beautiful compliments.

People were crying.

People, I mean even really good
collectors and curators.

Everybody was getting water in their
eyes and having tears.

So I think it's a good compliment,
I think.

While the Biennale's major
exhibitions get under way,

the fire brigade have work to do.
And for them, it's a chance
to catch a show.

The fire team also need
to safeguard some of the city's
more traditional arts.

Fire chief Alessandra Bashar
is inspecting the historic
Fenice Theatre,

to carry out crucial safety checks.

This is the waterfront,
the water place.

Backstage? Backstage, yes.

The 18th-century theatre is Venice's
most famous art house.

It's burned down three times
over the last three centuries.

There is a host of new safety
equipment in place

to ensure that fire never
takes hold again.

The modern auditorium was rebuilt
following the fire in 1996

which tore through the theatre,
leaving just a charred shell.

Thought to be arson, on the night
when the fire broke out

the nearby canals had been drained
for cleaning,

delaying the fire team's efforts
to battle the blaze.

It took them two days to smother
the smouldering building once
and for all.

The modern renovation which took
almost eight years and £42 million
to complete,

was designed to mirror
the 19th-century original

down to the wall fabrics
and lavish gilded interiors.

High-tech new safety systems
were installed.

Alessandra and her team ensure
everything is working properly.

On the new stage, the team check
the steel safety curtain

designed to block flames and smoke
from the auditorium.

Losing the Fenice in 1996
was devastating for Venice.

It galvanised the city into ensuring
it never happens again.

Now there is a water system where
fire hydrants are no more than
80 metres apart

in the city's most vulnerable areas.

This, plus the fire team's
maintenance programme,

helps ensure the safety of one of
Venice's most precious landmarks.

OK. Let's say that we have
just finished our checks.

Everything is new
and everything is safer.

As you can see, this is the best job
in the world for me as well.

Being in Venice,
being a fire-fighter,

working with five others with many
experience, many human experience,

it's really great. A great privilege.

..we find out how a city surrounded
by water battles the rising tide.

We see how what looks like giant
Lego is actually the last word
in anti-flood technology.

And with thousands of rowers in town
for Venice's largest demonstration
of love for the water,

the coastguards fight to keep order.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd