Who’s Afraid of Film Festivals? After Politics Rattled Berlin and Shook Up Cannes, Venice Braces for Impact
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- Alberto Barbera called Venice's selection "the most political one in recent years," saying the lineup reflects wars, Palestine, immigration, climate change, and shrinking spaces of freedom
- European Commission pulled $2.3 million from the Venice Biennale Foundation over its April art exhibition's decision to host Russia and Israel pavilions; Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco countered that Brussels gave Putin $5.9 billion in LNG contracts in six months
- Venice added to its competition the documentary "Naza" by "No Other Land" directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, which per its synopsis shows "in detail the systems behind Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza"
- Venice will open with Danny Boyle's "Ink," about Rupert Murdoch's tabloid-fueled rise — produced by Bolloré-controlled StudioCanal — and will also screen Alex Gibney's four-hour Elon Musk documentary, which Bleecker Street CEO Kent Sanderson says contains "real revelations"
- Venice will premiere "Be Brave," the first entirely AI-made film to screen at a major festival — a 90-minute portrait of Diesel founder Renzo Rosso
- At Berlin in February, jury president Wim Wenders was slammed for telling directors to "stay out of politics," prompting author Arundhati Roy to pull out; at Cannes, thousands of film professionals signed a petition against Vincent Bolloré's "increasing ideological influence" through Canal+
Why it matters: With the EU pulling $2.3 million from Venice's parent organization over Russia and Israel pavilions — and Barbera embracing the "most political" label — major film festivals are now unavoidable stages for geopolitical proxy battles, from Gaza documentaries and AI's first major-fest screening to protests over Bolloré's media empire.
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