Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera spoke candidly Tuesday about the political pressures surrounding this year’s edition, while making clear that the fest has no intention of shying away from controversy.
Speaking to Variety at the press cocktail on the Lido ahead of the 83rd edition, Barbera said it was “almost normal” that Venice was being pressed to take a political position given the number of films in the lineup touching on Gaza, Palestine, Ukraine and other contentious subjects.
“There are several films that can start controversies or, at the very least, provoke very strong political reactions,” Barbera said. “They ask whether the festival — and especially the Biennale — is going to take very clear and explicit political positions. What we always say is that neither the Biennale nor the festival will make political declarations in order to take sides.”
His comments came a day after Venice reinstated its jury press conference amid some backlash and as artists and activists, including Venice4Palestine, have called on the Biennale to take a stronger position on the war in Gaza.
“We are a space for freedom of expression. Our role is to safeguard freedom of expression for everyone, for the artists, and to safeguard the confrontation between artists and the public, the critics and people in general,“ said Barbera. “We will never take an explicit political position. It doesn’t make any sense.”
