Venice Film Festival Rolls Out the Red Carpet for George Clooney

George Clooney is opening the Venice Film Festival with a career tribute, receiving an honorary Golden Lion from actress Laura Dern. The 65-year-old actor is one of the most anticipated stars at the 83rd edition, which begins Wednesday on the Lido.

Clooney’s long association with Venice and his varied career have made him a natural centerpiece for the opening. The festival will also bring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz to the red carpet, competing together in “Búnker,” directed by French filmmaker Florian Zeller. They play a married couple in crisis after 17 years together, a role that carries an obvious echo of their own marriage, which began in 2010.

Other high-profile guests include Robert Pattinson, playing an unscrupulous journalist in “Primetime,” and John Malkovich, who appears in “Wild horse nine,” set on Easter Island. Rooney and Kate Mara play sisters who speak in unison in “Bucking fastard.” Hollywood studios, however, are largely absent from this year’s festival.

Twenty-one films are competing for the Golden Lion. The jury, chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, will announce the winner on Sept. 12. Out of competition, the program includes “Oasis: don’t look back in anger,” a documentary about the legendary British band’s return to the stage, “Father Joe,” starring Kiefer Sutherland and Al Pacino, and “Flesh Impact,” a short film by Gyllenhaal featuring Dakota Johnson as Marilyn Monroe.

Politics is expected to remain prominent. “NAZA,” directed by investigative journalist Yuval Abraham and filmmaker Rachel Szor, examines what its festival description calls the systems behind the calculated massacres of Palestinian civilians in Gaza by Israel. Amos Gitai’s “The road to Jericho” and “Citizen Osama” also address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera said cinema must address events in Gaza and the Middle East. “There are no fewer than four films addressing the Palestinian question and the current situation in Iran, so there can be no doubt about our position on this,” he told AFP. Last year, “The Voice of Hind,” about a Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces while fleeing Gaza City, deeply affected the festival. Rachel Szor is one of only two female directors included in this year’s competition.

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There are no fewer than four films addressing the Palestinian question and the current situation in Iran, so there can be no doubt about our position on this.