As the 82nd Venice Film Festival raises its curtains on August 27, 2025, the storied Lido is alive with more than just cinematic anticipation. This year, a powerful current of activism and political debate is coursing through the festival, as hundreds of film industry professionals and local activists converge to demand attention for the ongoing conflict in Gaza. While the festival is renowned for its glitz and star power, the focus this week is shifting—at least in part—from the red carpet to the realities of war and the responsibilities of art in turbulent times.
Venice4Palestine, a coalition of filmmakers, actors, and cultural figures, has organized a series of anti-war demonstrations timed to coincide with the festival’s most high-profile moments. According to the Associated Press, the group’s plans include a news conference on the festival’s opening morning in front of the iconic red carpet and a march on Saturday evening, just as Guillermo del Toro’s highly anticipated “Frankenstein” is set to premiere. Their demands are pointed: Venice4Palestine has called on the festival and its parent organization, the Venice Biennale, to sever ties with groups supporting the Israeli government and to rescind invitations to actors Gerard Butler and Gal Gadot, both of whom star in Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hand of Dante,” premiering out of competition on September 3.
The pressure on festival organizers has been mounting for weeks. On August 26, as reported by Variety and The Algemeiner, hundreds of professionals from the Italian and international film industry published an open letter. The letter, signed by prominent figures such as actor Toni Servillo, directors Alba and Alice Rohrwacher, Marco Bellocchio, and Matteo Garrone, urges the festival to take a “clear and unambiguous” stand and condemn what they describe as genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. “The burden is too much to carry on living as before,” the letter begins. “For almost two years now, we have been seeing images of unmistakable clarity from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Incredulous and powerless, we keep witnessing the torment of a genocide carried out live by the State of Israel in Palestine. No one will ever be able to say: ‘I couldn’t know, I couldn’t imagine, I couldn’t believe.’”
The letter’s signatories, who include British filmmaker Ken Loach and French director Céline Sciamma, argue that art must be a vehicle for reflection, resistance, and the development of critical consciousness. “It is time not only for empathy but also for responsibility,” they write, emphasizing that the festival should leverage its global platform to confront, not ignore, the realities of war and occupation.
Festival director Alberto Barbera, who is presiding over an edition brimming with star power—from Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett to George Clooney and Emma Stone—has found himself at the center of this debate. Barbera, speaking to Variety and the Associated Press, has made his position clear: “We are a space for debate, for conversation. We are absolutely open to any kind of debate about this unacceptable situation in Palestine.” Yet, he insists that the Venice Biennale does not make political statements or boycott artists. “We don’t want the festival to become a partisan stage for one side or the other,” he told Variety. “That said, it seems quite obvious to me that there will be [pro-Gaza] demonstrations in some form.”
Indeed, Barbera confirmed that Gal Gadot, the Israeli actor who has faced calls for boycott due to her pro-Israel stance, was never scheduled to attend the festival. “No, [Gal Gadot is not coming],” Barbera stated, addressing speculation that she had dropped out in response to activist scrutiny. As for Gerard Butler, Barbera said he is still waiting for confirmation regarding the Scottish actor’s attendance. Butler, who attended a Friends of the IDF gala in 2018, has not publicly commented on the Gaza war.
Despite the festival’s official stance of neutrality, its programming this year is anything but disengaged. The main competition features the world premiere of Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a searing drama about the death of a six-year-old Palestinian girl attempting to flee Gaza City with her family in early 2024. “The plight of the people of Gaza is represented in competition,” Barbera noted, adding that the film had greatly moved him. Last year, the festival also screened “Of Dogs and Men,” an Israeli docudrama exploring the aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
The context behind these calls for action is tragically current. On August 25, just two days before the festival’s opening, Israeli airstrikes hit a main hospital in Gaza, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists, and wounding many others. According to the Health Ministry, as of August 24, the death toll among Palestinians in the 22-month war has reached at least 62,686. The conflict began when Hamas-led militants abducted 251 hostages and killed approximately 1,200 people—mostly civilians—in a surprise attack on October 7, 2023. While most hostages have since been released, 50 remain in Gaza, with around 20 believed to be alive.
These events have only heightened the sense of urgency among activists and artists. Last year, in response to the threat of protests, the Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale remained closed, with curators declaring it would only open if a ceasefire were reached in Gaza. The Biennale itself responded to this year’s open letter by reaffirming its commitment to dialogue and sensitivity to global issues. “The evidence of this is, first and foremost, the works that are being presented [at the festival],” the organization stated, highlighting “The Voice of Hind Rajab” as an example.
Meanwhile, logistical and industry challenges remain on the Lido. Barbera lamented the skyrocketing cost of accommodations and the strain on local infrastructure, issues that have only intensified as festival attendance grows. He also addressed criticism over gender representation, noting that about 30% of this year’s directors are women, including those in virtual reality projects. “Festivals come at the end of a long industry supply chain,” Barbera explained, suggesting that broader industry reforms are needed to improve diversity.
As the festival unfolds, the intersection of art, activism, and politics is impossible to ignore. For many, the question is no longer whether the Venice Film Festival should engage with the world’s most pressing crises, but how. In the words of the open letter’s authors, “The Biennale and the Venice International Film Festival should celebrate the power of art as a means of transformation, testimony, representation of humanity, and development of critical consciousness.”
For all its glamour and cinematic riches, Venice this year is a stage not just for film, but for the urgent questions facing a world in turmoil.
