Venice film preview: Clooney, Oasis, Musk, Robert Pattinson and more
Hollywood's absence will leave more attention and eyeballs for some of the strong independently produced movies
The Venice Film Festival is no longer the exclusive domain of awards season glamour. This year, the red carpet has become a battleground for politics and politically charged cinema. The 83rd Venice International Film Festival opens on September 2 with Danny Boyle's drama "Ink," exploring Rupert Murdoch's 1969 takeover of Britain's The Sun tabloid, the genesis of the right-wing media empire.
Over the festival's 11-day run, audiences will witness films addressing Israel and Gaza, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the CIA-backed Pinochet coup in Chile, ICE raids in Minneapolis, and a revealing documentary about the world's wealthiest man.
Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera describes this year as the most politically charged edition of the Venice Film Festival. Films like "Naza," an Israeli documentary about military killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and "My Undesirable Friends Part II — Exile," a sequel about Russian President Vladimir Putin's crackdown on independent journalism, will be featured.
Andrei Kutsila's "Letters From the Silenced Country," about repression in Kutsila's native Belarus, will have its world premiere in Venice. Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary about Elon Musk, "Musk," has already received backlash from the world's richest man, who calls it a "hit piece."
Laura Poitras, Oscar-winning director of "Citizenfour," will screen "They're Here," a short horror film featuring previously undisclosed footage of ICE's deportation surge in Minneapolis. As the festival's artistic director, Barbera has called this year's Venice edition the festival's most political ever, reflecting a shift in the film festival landscape.
Written by urgent.news from DW News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.