During the opening ceremony of the 81st Venice Film Festival, a number of attendees were keen to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people and the need to stop the massacres carried out by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip.
At the opening ceremony on the evening of August 28 in Venice, Italy, a filmmaker appeared wearing a T-shirt that read “Free Palestine,” while the Italian actress held up a wooden sign that read “Stop the genocide in Gaza.”
The opening of the festival also witnessed the signing of a petition by 300 filmmakers to protest the beautification of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, and the screening of the films “Of Dogs and Men,” whose story takes place against the backdrop of the events of October 7. The film is directed by Danny Rosenberg, who adopts the Israeli point of view and links the terrorist operations in the region to the Palestinian people, and the second film is “Why War?”, which was produced by Israeli production companies that support apartheid and genocide.
The letter reads: “We, the undersigned artists, filmmakers and cultural workers, reject complicity with the Israeli apartheid regime and oppose the artistic glamorization of the Gaza genocide against Palestinians at the 81st Venice Film Festival, and the screening of two films produced by complicit Israeli companies.”
In their letter, the signatories expressed their anger at the Venice Film Festival’s silence regarding the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
“As art and film professionals around the world, we demand effective and ethical measures to hold apartheid Israel accountable for its crimes and colonial oppression of the Palestinians,” the petition’s signatories continued. “It is unacceptable to screen films produced by production companies complicit in a regime that is involved in ongoing atrocities against the Palestinian people in Venice. The film festival should not be programming productions that are complicit in crimes of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide, regardless of their perpetrators, and should refrain from doing so in the future.”
The petition was signed by a number of filmmakers and actors, including Palestinian director Hany Abu Assad, artist Saleh Bakri, Palestinian artist Rosalind Nashashibi, and Palestinian director Raed Andoni.
Signatories include American actor and musician Saul Williams, Italian actress Simona Cavallari, German filmmaker Monica Maurer, and Brazilian actress Alessandra Negrini.
Impressive opening
Unlike last year, which saw a noticeable absence of celebrities due to the strike by the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America in Hollywood, the opening ceremony of the 81st edition of the festival witnessed the attendance of a large number of celebrities, most notably Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and Joaquin Phoenix.
The opening film, “Beetlejuice 2”, received a standing ovation that lasted for 3 minutes, in the presence of the film’s creators and stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega and director Tim Burton.
In another touching moment during the opening, American actress Sigourney Weaver cried as she was honored with the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement, and during her speech Weaver expressed her happiness with the award, which she considered a source of encouragement.
The three-time Oscar nominee joked with the audience that the Golden Lion statuette would be sitting next to her on the plane, and her husband would have to get used to being next to her all the time.
The most prominent films participating in the Arab and international arenas
Among the most prominent films competing this year for the Golden Lion are Maria by Pablo Larraines, starring Angelina Jolie, who plays the biography of Maria Callas, and Joker: Folie à Deux by Todd Phillips, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
Queer by Luca Guadagnino, starring Daniel Craig, and The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.
Outside the official competition, the film “Wolfs” starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney and directed by Jon Watts is being shown.
In addition to the Arab shows participating in the 81st session, which concludes on September 7th.
From Egypt, the film “Searching for an Exit for Mr. Rambo” by director Khaled Mansour, which is participating in the “Orizzonti Extra” program, which screens films that represent the latest trends in international cinema for young talents, and the film “Perfumed with Mint” in the Critics’ Week competition, written and directed by Mohamed Hamdy.
The Palestinian film “Yana’ad Alaikum” directed by Iskandar Qabti and starring Manar Shehab, Wafaa Aoun and Tawfiq Daniel also participates in the “Orizzonti Extra” program.
In the Horizons competition, the Tunisian film “Aicha” directed by Mehdi Barsaoui competes, and in the “Authors’ Days” section, the film “Sudan, My Precious” by Tunisian Hind Meddeb is being screened. The film documents the voices of the revolutionaries in Sudan who risked their lives to achieve their dreams of freedom and change.
