by InTrieste
As the Venice Film Festival prepares to open on August 27, hundreds of figures from Italian and international cinema have signed an appeal urging organizers to take a stronger position on the war in Gaza.
The letter, circulated by the group Venice4Palestine (V4P), was addressed to the Biennale di Venezia, which oversees the festival, and released publicly on Friday. It calls on cultural institutions “to be more courageous and clear in their condemnation of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing throughout Palestine at the hands of the Israeli government and army.”
“We have seen it all. We see it all,” the letter states. “Yet, as the spotlight turns on the Venice Film Festival, we risk experiencing yet another major event impervious to this human, civil, and political tragedy.”
The appeal comes as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has expressed what she described as “concern” for the situation in Gaza, while members of Italy’s political opposition have pressed for more concrete steps to influence Israel’s military campaign.
Among the signatories are prominent Italian filmmakers Marco Bellocchio, Matteo Garrone, and the D’Innocenzo brothers, along with actors Toni Servillo, Sonia Bergamasco, Alba and Alice Rohrwacher, and the director Ferzan Ozpetek. Roger Waters, the musician and activist, also joined the appeal.
The letter highlights the dangers faced by journalists covering the conflict, claiming that nearly 250 Palestinian media workers have been killed in recent months. It urges the festival to adopt “a clear and unambiguous position” as the world’s attention turns to Venice.
In response, the Biennale’s press office said in a statement that the festival “has always been, throughout its history, a place of open discussion, sensitive to all the most pressing issues facing society and the world,” adding that it “is, as always, open to dialogue.”
A demonstration organized by pro-Palestinian activists is scheduled for August 30 on the Venice Lido, where the festival is held each year.
The Venice Film Festival, one of the industry’s most closely watched annual gatherings, runs through September 6.
