Pro-Palestine Protest Takes Place Outside Venice Film Festival Ahead of Opening

TDT | Manama

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A small group of protesters gathered outside the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, holding banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Stop the Genocide,” just hours before stars were set to walk the festival’s red carpet.

About 20 people, part of a regional left-wing Italian political collective, waved hand-drawn signs and Palestinian flags in a peaceful demonstration ahead of the festival’s opening ceremony.

“We want to use the attention here at the film festival to focus on Palestine,” said 28-year-old Giulia Cacopardo of the North-East Social Centres. “We hope more people will join us to stop the genocide now.”

The protest comes ahead of a larger demonstration planned in Venice this weekend, organized by hundreds of local groups. Many in the Italian film industry are also urging the festival to take a stronger stance on the conflict in Gaza.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has already drawn attention at major film events this year. At the Cannes Festival in May, hundreds of movie figures signed a petition expressing shame over the film industry’s “passivity” regarding the war.

In Italy, hundreds of cinema professionals recently signed an open letter under the Venice4Palestine (V4P) banner, calling on the festival to take “a clear and unambiguous position” against the war.

Festival director Alberto Barbera told AFP on Wednesday that the Venice Film Festival does not take political positions, describing it as a cultural space for dialogue and discussion. He also said the festival would not censor or boycott any artists.

This year, the festival’s main competition includes a film about the war in Gaza. The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, tells the story of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza City in January 2024 while fleeing an offensive with her family.

The conflict in Gaza escalated after Hamas attacks in October 2023, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to AFP tallies. During the attacks, 251 people were taken hostage, and 49 remain in Gaza, including 27 considered dead by the Israeli military.

Since then, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 62,819 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, figures considered reliable by the United Nations.