With the Venice Film Festival just days away on September 2, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux and directors Matteo Garrone and Isabel Coixet have signed their names to an open letter calling for the festival to end their non-partisanship. The Venice4Palestine collective organized the letter, with the group last year also overseeing a demonstration that called on the festival to acknowledge the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
One year after its first appeal, Venice4Palestine is once again calling on the Venice Biennale, the Venice International Film Festival and professionals across the film, audiovisual and cultural sectors to take concrete action in support of Palestine… Its demands include greater transparency throughout the film industry and the suspension of agreements with organisations and institutions linked to the Israeli government, the introduction of safeguards for professionals who choose to dissociate themselves from such ties.
The ongoing conflict has also been intertwined with Paramount’s ongoing pursuit of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. Mark Ruffalo and many other Hollywood stars have taken to social media to not only criticize the conflict but also criticize the pending merger. Most recently, Ruffalo took to social media to take a hard stand against the merger, pointing to a frightening connection between Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, the former’s son. Ruffalo referenced the frightening military technology Oracle is sharing with the Israeli military, also pointing out how the public is kept in the dark on a lot of what is truly happening.
The Venice Film Festival has never commented on the Israel-Palestine conflict but has been welcoming of films that shine a spotlight on the horrors of the conflict, including last year’s The Voice of Hind Rajab. Deadline spoke on the film and the repercussions it had.
The film reconstructed the events surrounding the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, her four cousins, her aunt and uncle, and the two paramedics who came to her rescue, after their car came under fire as they tried to flee Gaza City in January, 2024. Israel announced on August 19 that it was launching a criminal investigation into the incident.
The letter also requested that the Palestinian flag be widely present at the festival, further helping shine a light on the two Palestinian films that were selected, Citizen Osama and Conversation with the Sea. Other films that will be present at the festival that are spotlighting this conflict are The Road to Jericho and Naza.
