As the ovation surpassed 20 minutes, and in a clear effort to get the room to disperse, the lights were dimmed in the theatre. The clapping continued.
Archiv: Filmfestival in Venedig / Venice Film Festival
Filmmakers Behind Gaza Drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ Make Plea for Peace in Venice: “Enough of the Mass Killing, Starvation, Dehumanization”
Last week, just as the Venice festival was getting underway, industry heavyweights including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuaron and Jonathan Glazer, boarded The Voice of Hind Rajab as executive producers, boosting its profile ahead of its world premiere.
Ben Hania said the backing of such global film figures was something she “never imagined was possible,” but that she’s “very grateful for their support.”
Filmmakers Urge Venice to Take Stand on Gaza in Open Letter
“As the spotlight turns on the Venice Film Festival, we’re in danger of going through yet another major event that remains indifferent to this human, civil, and political tragedy,” the letter reads. “‘The show must go on,’ we are told, as we’re urged to look away — as if the ‘film world’ had nothing to do with the ‘real world.‘”
For once, the letter continues, “the show must stop. We must interrupt the flow of indifference and open a path to awareness,” adding, “there is no cinema without humanity.”
Gaza massacre rocks the most star-studded Venice Film Festival in living memory
The V4P (Venice for Palestine) movement, led by some 1,500 Italian and international film icons — including Marco Bellocchio, Matteo Garrone, Alice Rohrwacher, Ken Loach, and Céline Sciamma — sent a letter to the festival last Friday urging it to officially criticize the “ongoing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing across Palestine.“ In a second, more recent letter, it requested the withdrawal of invitations to two celebrities — Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler — for having previously adopted pro-Israeli positions.