Celebrities show solidarity with Palestinians at Venice Film Festival

Directors and stars display opposition to war on Gaza, with event facing criticism for inclusion of Israeli films

Director Neo Sora was among those who protested against the Gaza war during the film festival. Getty Images

The war in Gaza has not been forgotten at the Venice International Film Festival, where stars and guests have shown solidarity with Palestinians on the red carpet.

At the closing ceremony of the star-studded affair on Saturday evening, American director Sarah Friedland condemned what she called Israel's “genocide in Gaza” as she accepted the best film award for Familiar Touch.

Applauded by jury members, the debut film winner said it was filmmakers' responsibility to use institutional platforms to “redress Israel’s impunity on the global stage”.

Friedland added: “I stand in solidarity with The people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation.”

It was the latest celebrity show of support for Palestine at the oldest film festival in the world. One of the first of these gestures came on opening day on the red carpet for the Italian comedy-drama Nonostante. Italian actor Lino Musella wore a Free Palestine T-shirt and actress Laura Morante donned a royal blue kaftan and accessorised it with a fan that had a hand-written message: “Stop the Gaza genocide. More than 40,000 killed over 16,000 children”.

During Sunday’s red carpet event for the film Wolfs, which stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney, one guest appeared with “Free Palestine” written on her thigh.

A day later, American director Neo Sora attended the photo-call for his film Happyend wearing a keffiyeh. Sora, the son of Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, also brandished a Palestinian flag badge on his lapel, with a tag bearing the words “Free Palestine” hanging below it.

Lia Ouyang Rusli, a producer on the film, showed support with a handbag that had the Palestine flag on it, while composer Aiko Masubuchi wore a red-and-white keffiyeh around her shoulders.

Anna Foglietta took to the red carpet on Monday with a heart-shaped pin bearing the Palestinian flag. The Italian actress was attending the screening for the film The Room Next Door, which stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.

On Thursday, a guest of Italian writer Antonio Scurati appeared during the premiere of the series M: Il figlio del secolo (M: Son of the Century) wearing a T-shirt with the slogan: “Stop the Massacre”. Scurati wrote the 2018 novel that inspired the series, which delves into the early political career of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

Perhaps the strongest message of solidarity came on Thursday from the cast and crew of Tunisian film Aicha. Director Mehdi Barsaoui and actress Fatma Sfar, along with others who worked on the film, held up a banner that read: “Stop the Genocide”.

They weren't alone in showing support as Italian actor Fabio Testi carried a giant sign in Italian that read: “16,500 children killed in Gaza, stop the massacre.”

Since the Gaza war began in October last year, more than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed, health authorities in the enclave said. But a report by the Lancet medical journal, published in July, suggested the death toll could exceed 186,000, especially when sickness and starvation are taken into account. The war began when Hamas led an attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

The film festival came under scrutiny when it began on August 28. More than 350 industry professionals wrote an open letter to organisers criticising the inclusion of two Israeli films. The letter was published by Artists for Palestine Italia.

One of the Israel films was Al Klavim Veanashim (Of Dogs and Men) by director Dani Rosenberg, which revolves around a teenager who searches for her missing dog after the Hamas attack on October 7. The other film is Amos Gitai’s Why War, which was inspired by an epistolary exchange between Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein on how to avoid conflict.

The open letter protested against the inclusion of the films, saying they were “complicit in whitewashing Israel’s oppression against Palestinians”.

“We, the undersigned artists, filmmakers and cultural workers, reject complicity with the Israeli regime of apartheid and oppose the art washing of its Gaza genocide against Palestinians at the 81st Film Festival in Venice,” it said. “The Venice Film Festival has remained silent about Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinian people. This silence outrages us deeply.”

The letter also says it is “unacceptable that films made by productions companies complicit in a regime engaged in atrocities against the Palestinian people should be shown in Venice”.

It was signed by Palestinian creatives including Hany Abu-Assad, Rosalind Nashashibi, Raed Andoni and Saleh Bakri, as well as notable Italian filmmakers such as Enrico Parenti and Alessandra Ferrini, actor Niccolo Senni and actress Simona Cavallari.

Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the film festival, rejected the open letter. In an interview with Deadline, he said: “We are a space open to everyone and to people with different political views. We show films that highlight different views on all sorts of issues. I don’t want to take sides and I can’t make such public statements for the festival in my role as festival director.

“What [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is doing in Gaza is a war crime, and so was October 7. But we wouldn’t ever withdraw a film on ideological grounds. The films that were asked to be withdrawn by the 300 filmmakers are not anti-Palestinian films in any way, quite the opposite.”

During a photo-call for Al Klavim Veanashim, actress Nora Lifshiz wore a pendant calling a deal to secure the release of hostages in Gaza, with the message embossed in English and Hebrew.