When Angelina Jolie stood observing the euphoric Venice Film Festival audience who had just been among the first to watch her highly anticipated performance as Maria Callas in the biopic Maria, the usually composed actress openly wiped away tears. As the standing ovation continued for a stunning eight minutes, it was clear that the actress was entering a new chapter of her already successful career – one that was coming off the back of a deeply difficult time, following eight years of anguish as she and her ex-husband Brad Pitt continue to thrash out their divorce settlement amidst some shocking claims of Pitt’s abuse (which he has denied). The star has admitted that she felt she had to, in that time, take a step back from both Hollywood and the public eye, in order to ‘heal’.

Since she and Pitt announced their split in 2016, Jolie has only starred in two major films: the Disney sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and the Marvel flop Eternals. Jolie, who trained for six months to play Callas, was courted for years by director Pablo Larraín, and is being touted as a serious Oscar contender for next year’s awards. The director says the role was a ‘very difficult’ process for Jolie who nonetheless navigated the intense nature of its demands well, adding, ‘She can let you in when she wants, and she can create a distance where she wants.’

Distance was certainly the order of the weekend when it came to the schedule, balancing as it was both Jolie’s triumphant red carpet return with the arrival of her ex-husband Brad Pitt, whose film Wolfs had its premiere on Sunday, though he arrived in Venice with his new girlfriend Ines De Ramon on the Saturday, 24 hours after Jolie left for the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.

The festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera revealed Pitt and Jolie were, in fact, strategically scheduled to avoid any chance of them running into one another, although it’s thought that neither actor specifically made the request, it was more of an understanding that the two most high-profile former lovers in Hollywood simply could not risk crossing over. Barbera told Vanity Fair ahead of the event: ‘Angelina will be on the first day, on Thursday August 29 and she will leave right after to go to Colorado. So Brad will arrive only on Saturday. There is no way that they can cross each other at the Lido.’

This will have come as something of a relief to both parties, given that the shocking headlines about their divorce and ensuing legal battles have been plaguing them for years. The pair are still yet to finalise their financial divisions as part of their divorce, with their vineyard at their South of France home, Chateau Miraval, the biggest bone of contention after Jolie allegedly sold her half to a Russian oligarch without clearing things with Pitt.

This follows various other issues, including custody of their six children, Maddox, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara, Vivienne and Knox, although only two of them remain under the age of 18, the age where they are considered an adult with no need for custodial arrangements. Recent reports suggest that the children have mostly dropped the ‘Pitt’ from their double barrelled names of their own accord, and intend to be known by their mother’s name from now on.

Whilst Jolie was clearly revelling in her celebrated return to the limelight, and the response she has received to her performance as Callas, the film festival was also an opportunity for Pitt to start fresh. Pitt arrived in Venice not only with his co-star, and old friend, George Clooney and his wife Amal, but with his girlfriend Ines De Ramon, whom he has been dating for almost two years – but has only recently been seen with at public events. Indeed, although they were photographed at a F1 event at Silverstone in July, the Wolfs premiere was the undeniably glamorous De Ramon and Pitt’s red carpet debut. Insiders have made no secret of the fact Pitt’s relationship with De Ramon, who works for a Los Angeles-based jewellery company, has become increasingly serious in recent months, with marriage rumours circulating earlier this summer. And with their red carpet outing proving that their relationship is now reaching the next level, it’s also thought that this kind of positive PR boost that comes with a fresh relationship isn’t something Pitt wants to shy away from either, after a rocky past few years. For her part, Jolie was also last week linked to British rapper and activist Akala, though neither party has commented. 

With their first ‘near miss’ now out of the way, it marks a new era for Pitt and Jolie who are clearly determined not to let their highly public split get in the way of their lives, professionally or personally, any longer.