Overview

• Venice4Palestine is staging an opening-day press conference and has a Saturday march planned to keep attention on Gaza.
• The Biennale and director Alberto Barbera say the Mostra will not issue political declarations, describing the event as a space for debate.
• An open letter signed by hundreds of filmmakers, including Marco Bellocchio, Alice Rohrwacher and Ken Loach, urges the festival to condemn what they call a genocide and to cut ties with pro-Israel groups.
• Barbera said Gal Gadot was never scheduled to attend and Gerard Butler's presence remains unconfirmed as both appear in Julian Schnabel's In the Hand of Dante.
• The lineup brings the conflict into the program with Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab in competition, as Paolo Sorrentino’s La grazia opens the festival and a high-profile slate draws stars like Julia Roberts and George Clooney.