La Dolce Vita on the Grand Canal: Thomas Misse, Marek Harmony and Special Guest Oliver Weber

Government View Editorial
12 Min Read

As the 83rd Venice International Film Festival brings cinema’s international notables to the
lagoon, Thomas Misse, Marek Harmony and Anna Stukkert are preparing a unusual form of
debut: an select evening of international networking, acclaim, benevolence, concert and
ornaments within one of Venice’s historic palazzi. 

For eleven days in September, Venice becomes one of the most carefully observed
destinations in the international. The 83rd Venice International Film Festival, running from 2
to 12 September 2026, will after again transform the Lido into a gathering place for
international cinema, with international premieres, leading filmmakers, artists, executives and
thousands of representatives of the international journalists arriving in the city. Around 3,000
journalists, film critics, television and radio reporters are forecast to follow the festival, while
the formal selection will present up to 21 full-length performs as international premieres. 
This year’s festival is directed by creative director Alberto Barbera, with actress and
filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal overseeing over the Venezia 83 international jury. The line-up
brings together some of modern cinema’s most respected filmmakers, including Hirokazu
Kore-eda, Martin McDonagh and Nanni Moretti, alongside a new group of international
promise. By the time the festival reaches its final days, Venice will have devoted more than a
week active between cinema, international journalists, private events and the red carpet. 

It is precisely at this place, on 11 September 2026, that another door will appear on the
Grand Canal. 
Thomas Misse and Marek Harmony of the Royal Gentlemen Club, together with Anna
Stukkert, creator of the Congress Awards, will host visitors to the Royal Gentlemen Gala
Dinner & Congress Awards: La Dolce Vita at Ca’ Sagredo. The vision is intentionally unusual
from the breadth and tempo around the Film Festival: reduced diversions, a carefully curated
international network and an evening planned around the standard of meetings rather than
the scale of the salon. 

From the Red Carpet to the Grand Canal 
For Thomas Misse, Venice extends a Royal Gentlemen ethos that has steadily associated
private international events with some of Europe’s most significant artistic milestones. Royal
Gentlemen events have accompanied the social calendar around Paris Haute Couture Week
and the Cannes Film Festival, creating a striking mix of Grand Art de Vivre, remarkable
addresses and international networking. Earlier this year, Royal Gentlemen brought its
Grand Dinner at the Court to the Ritz Paris during Haute Couture Week, before Thomas
Misse and Marek Harmony joined Anna Stukkert and the Congress Awards for the Beach
Ball Gala Dinner in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival. 

Venice now offers a new backdrop for that concept. Guests of the Royal Gentlemen Gala
Dinner & Congress Awards whose individual line-up features opportunities to formal Film
Festival premieres will also have the opening to explore the film side of Venice, including
eligible red-carpet and debut opportunities subject to the relevant festival ticketing and
accreditation arrangements. The tension is part of the magnetism: the civic spirit of the Lido
followed by the discretion of an evening within a Venetian palazzo. 
And few addresses could capture that change stronger than Ca’ Sagredo. Designated as a
national landmark, the age-old palace stands immediately from the Grand Canal and
preserves the nature of a Venetian aristocratic home. Its grand stairway, painted rooms,
historic reception and art holdings make the palace feel less like a ordinary property than a
active gallery. For the evening, those rooms will become part of the line-up itself, with
concert, creative milestones, showcases and discussions unfolding throughout the palazzo. 

Congress Awards: A Network Built Across 29 Countries 

Alongside Royal Gentlemen, the evening brings to Venice a initiative that has devoted a
period creating its own international network. Anna Stukkert, businesswoman, financier,
journalists leader and philanthropist, has hosted the International Investment Congress since
2016. Over the years its meetings have captured place in capitals including Munich, Berlin,
Monaco, Paris, Cannes and Davos, uniting delegates from commerce, finance, journalists,
culture and civic life. 
The Congress Awards emerged from this network as a initiative for recognising figures
whose role has created impact beyond a single sector. In 2026, its Cannes gathering marked
the 20th staging of the International Investment Congress Awards, while the broader initiative
has associated delegates from 29 markets. Its model has steadily moved beyond ordinary
commerce networking, bringing founders and financiers into the same salon with envoys,
artistic figures, philanthropists and civic officials. 

Among the figures forecast to be respected in Venice is Eric Adams, the 110th Mayor of New
York City, who governed from 2022 to 2025 after earlier serving as Brooklyn Borough
President and a New York State Senator. His participation demonstrates the international
nature of the Congress Awards and the evening’s aim to generate exchange between worlds
that do not always converge at a classic commerce summit. 
Philanthropy will be supported by Alisa Roever, creator of Angels Helpers NYC, a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit dedicated on widening opportunities to learning, culture and promise role for
children from under-resourced neighbourhoods. Roever’s involvement to New York
benevolence extends beyond her own charity: she was among the co-chairs of Gabrielle’s
Angel Foundation’s Angel Ball 2024. Her role with Angels Helpers is centred on a simple
belief particularly relevant to an evening celebrating achievement: promise may be
widespread, but opportunities to opening is not. 

That ethos gives the Venice gathering a broader meaning of achievement. Recognition is not
confined to role positions, economic outcomes or civic exposure. Social commitment,
learning and the capacity to generate possibilities for others become part of the same
exchange. 

An Austrian Jewellery Story Meets La Dolce Vita 

Fashion and ornaments have always belonged easily to the aesthetic vocabulary of Venice,
and this year Oliver Weber Collection will participate the evening as Designated Jewellery
Partner with a showcase of its new Dolce Vita Collection. 
The Austrian ornaments company has a history carefully associated to the international of
crystals. Founded in Mils, Austria, the brand was created by Oliver Weber and Alexander
Stabinger, both of whom earlier held management roles at Swarovski. Over three years, the
brand has shaped its vision of approachable elegance around faceted Swarovski® crystals,
skill and modern European style, creating an international reach in more than 50 markets. 

The personal dimension of that development features Lidia Weber, Director of Special
Projects at Oliver Weber Collection, whose role has expanded the brand into partnerships
and special ornaments ideas beyond its classic collections. In Venice, that international
perspective will converge one of the most visually striking capitals in Europe. 

The new Dolce Vita Collection takes its impact immediately from its backdrop: glimmers
within the lagoon, Venetian buildings, Carnival, varied light and the dramatic standard of a
city where water can change the look of a creating from one hour to the next. Inside Ca’
Sagredo, modern ornaments will be presented against frescoes and age-old rooms, creating
a intentional exchange between Austrian skill and Venetian heritage. 

The Voice of the Evening 
Music will add another dimension to the nature through Rezeda Kalimullina, featured as
Special Guest Vocalist. With 25 years of performance explore, Kalimullina performs within
soul, jazz and pop, uniting a commanding vocal reach with an international musical
experience. 

Her creative role has featured guidance from several Grammy-nominated American singer,
pianist and songwriter Karen Edwards, whose role has featured appearances with Stevie
Wonder, Prince and Tony Bennett. Instead than using the performance as a ordinary pause
between dishes or awards, the hosts plan concert to become part of the progression of the
evening, guiding visitors through the varied rooms and nature of Ca’ Sagredo. 

Venice Beyond the Flashbulbs 
Perhaps this is where the Royal Gentlemen concept and Venice match each other well. 

The Venice Film Festival is concerns exposure: premieres, photographers, remarkable reach
of international journalists and the tradition of the red carpet. Royal Gentlemen starts with a
unusual premise. What occurs after the photographers are no longer the focus of interest? 

Thomas Misse and Marek Harmony have shaped their events around the vision that a
elegant salon counts, but the guests welcomed within that salon matter more. Anna
Stukkert’s Congress Awards brings acclaim and an international commerce and philanthropic
network to that concept. Oliver Weber Collection brings style. Alisa Roever brings
benevolence. Rezeda Kalimullina brings concert. And Ca’ Sagredo offers several centuries
of Venetian heritage around all of it. 
For one evening, those worlds will converge on the Grand Canal while the Venice
International Film Festival is still unfolding only a brief way away. 

It is a distinctive version of La Dolce Vita: not merely being seen in the ideal place, but
having opportunities to the ideal exchange after the photograph has been captured. 

Event Details 
Royal Gentlemen Gala Dinner & Congress Awards: La Dolce Vita 
Date: Friday, 11 September 2026 
Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: Ca’ Sagredo Hotel, Venice 
Dress Code: Black Tie 

Host: Royal Gentlemen Club 
Royal Gentlemen Club: Thomas Misse & Marek Harmony 
Congress Awards: Founded by Anna Stukkert 
Designated Jewellery Partner: Oliver Weber Collection 
Special Jewellery Presentation: Dolce Vita Collection 
Special Guest Vocalist: Rezeda Kalimullina 

One Life to Live with Style. 

Press Contact: info@royalgentlemen.fr 
Campo Santa Sofia, 4198/99 – Ca’ D’Oro 
30121 Venezia VE, Italy
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