Overview

• The 82nd edition opened with Paolo Sorrentino’s La grazia and a ceremony honoring Werner Herzog with a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.
• George Clooney missed Thursday’s press and red-carpet events for Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly after doctors advised rest for a sinus infection, his representative said.
• Activist group Venice4Palestine held an opening-day action and plans a Saturday march, urging the Biennale to cut ties with pro-Israel groups and to disinvite Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler.
• Festival chief Alberto Barbera expressed solidarity with Gaza’s civilian victims but said the Biennale does not issue political statements or boycott artists, noting the main-competition premiere of The Voice of Hind Rajab.
• Organizers confirmed Gal Gadot and Al Pacino will not attend; Butler’s attendance remained unclear, while major premieres include Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Lucrecia Martel’s Nuestra tierra on Aug. 30.