Overview

• Francis Ford Coppola presented Werner Herzog with the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the opening ceremony, with Herzog’s Ghost Elephants screening out of competition.
• Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia launched the competition slate, marking a high-profile start to the 82nd edition.
• Pro‑Palestinian actions and an open letter with roughly 1,500 signatories pressed for exclusions, but director Alberto Barbera reiterated there will be no censorship or revoked invitations.
• George Clooney skipped the opening as a precaution after feeling unwell, with his Jay Kelly premiere due today alongside Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s Bugonia.
• Twenty‑one films compete for the Golden Lion under jury president Alexander Payne, with entries including Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, Olivier Assayas’s The Wizard of the Kremlin with Jude Law, and new works from Jim Jarmusch and Guillermo del Toro; winners are announced September 6.