The 82nd Venice Film Festival kicked off Wednesday with the world premiere of Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia, drawing Hollywood stars and acclaimed filmmakers to the Lido for 10 days of premieres and competition. The festival runs through September 6, concluding with the awards ceremony.
La Grazia, Sorrentino’s latest work, stars longtime collaborator Toni Servillo as a fictional Italian president facing moral dilemmas at the end of his term, including signing a bill permitting euthanasia while mourning his late wife. Sorrentino said he was inspired by a real case involving a president who pardoned a man convicted of killing his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife. “This was a moral dilemma that was interesting to tell,” he said. Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera described the film as “a very unexpected story,” noting it is “far less baroque and formalistic” than Sorrentino’s previous work, News.Az reports, citing AP News.
The festival showcases 21 films in the main competition, including Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, and Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab. The Golden Lion winners will be chosen by an international jury led by director Alexander Payne and actor Fernanda Torres.
Beyond the red carpet, the festival has also been a focal point for political activism. Protesters gathered Wednesday to draw attention to the situation in Gaza, with a march planned for Saturday. Hundreds of associations and festival participants have signed a petition to support the demonstration, waving Palestinian flags and holding banners calling for an end to violence.
While calls have circulated to disinvite actors over political views, Barbera emphasized that the festival does not boycott artists or make political statements. Discussions around Gaza also surfaced during press events, including questions to Sorrentino and Payne. The festival, however, remains focused on cinema, with Payne noting, “I feel a little bit unprepared for that question. I’m here to judge and talk about cinema.”
