Leading Film Figures Demand Palestinian Flag Be Flown at Venice Film Festival

VENICE (International Desk) — Prominent figures from cinema and culture have called on organizers of the Venice Film Festival to fly the Palestinian flag at this year’s edition, in tribute to two Palestinian films included in the official selection.
In an open letter released ahead of the festival, which begins next week, the “Venice4Palestine” initiative said that Ahmad Hasona’s film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (referred to in the original as “Al-Mowaten Osama” / “Citizen Osama”) and Maysa Alayan’s film “A Dialogue with the Sea” (“Hiwar ma’ al-Bahr”) deserve the same recognition typically extended by the festival to films representing other nations.
The letter urged organizers to fly the Palestinian flag for the duration of the event alongside the flags representing all other countries with films in the official selection. It further called on film, media, and cultural workers to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and to boycott institutions affiliated with the Israeli government, citing the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Israeli attacks.
“The extraordinary nature of the historical moment we are living through compels us to isolate Israel diplomatically, culturally, and economically,” the letter stated, adding that such measures should continue until the Israeli government complies with international law and ends its occupation and colonization of Palestine.
Signatories include Italian directors Matteo Garrone and Marco Bellocchio [Marco Simon Puccioni], actors Guy Pearce, Indya Moore, and Adèle Haenel, musician Roger Waters, and Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, alongside more than 200 other film and cultural professionals and public figures.