At Wednesday’s opening press conference for this year’s Venice Film Festival, jury president Alexander Payne declined to answer a question about his personal stance on the crisis in Gaza, saying he felt “a little unprepared” to speak on the issue.
“Quite frankly, I feel a little bit unprepared for that question. I’m here to judge and talk about cinema. My political views, I’m sure, are in agreement with many of yours. But as far as my relationship with the festival and what the industry does, I have to think about that for a while to give you a measured response,” he said.
The question came as Gaza is a major topic of conversation at the Venice Film Festival, with a march planned for Saturday denouncing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. And also on Wednesday, Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and Alfonso Cuaron boarded “The Voice Of Hind Rajab,” a documentary about the 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza last year, as executive producers ahead of the film’s Venice debut.
While Payne opted not to weigh in on the issue at the opening press conference, Venice chief Alberto Barbera addressed calls for the festival to take a stronger stance on Gaza and to disinvite Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler from the festival.
“We have been asked to turn down invitation to artists, we will not do that,” Barbera said. “If they want to be at the festival, they will be here. On the other hand, we have never hesitated to clearly declare our huge sadness and suffering vis-à-vis what is happening in Gaza and Palestine. The death of civilians and especially of children, who are victims, the collateral damage of a war which nobody has been able to terminate yet. I think there are no doubts in regard to the Biennale’s position on this.”
The Venice Film Festival, which continues through the weekend into next week, will see the premieres of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia” as A-listers like George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Adam Sandler and Oscar Isaac are due to walk the red carpet.
Whether they’ll follow Payne’s lead and stay out of the Gaza conversation remains to be seen, but the topic is surely not going away as the fall film festival season kicks into gear.
