The red carpet returns, but questions of power, propaganda and representation dominate the conversation.
VENICE, ITALY
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival opened with George Clooney receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and Danny Boyle’s Ink launching the official screenings. The world’s oldest film festival will present 21 titles competing for its principal award during an eleven-day programme shaped by cinema’s response to geopolitical conflict and technological disruption.
Clooney accepted the honorary prize after a tribute from actress Laura Dern. Rather than concentrating exclusively on his career, he warned that artificial intelligence threatens the credibility of film and journalism by making authentic evidence increasingly difficult to distinguish from fabricated content. He also questioned the growing concentration of media ownership and the possible employment consequences of major entertainment-industry mergers.
Boyle’s opening film dramatises Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition and transformation of British newspaper The Sun in 1969. Its focus on media power, political influence and commercial journalism established the tone for a programme containing documentaries and fictional works about Gaza, the war in Ukraine, American immigration enforcement and Elon Musk’s global influence.
Main competition jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal rejected the argument that cinema should remain separate from politics, maintaining that stories about human experience inevitably reflect structures of power. She also highlighted the obstacles facing women directors. Only two of the 21 films in the principal competition were directed or co-directed by women, a disparity festival director Alberto Barbera attributed partly to the limited number of submissions received from female filmmakers.
The festival must balance celebrity spectacle with disputes that extend far beyond awards season. Artificial intelligence is transforming production, media consolidation is narrowing institutional power and wars are challenging how filmmakers represent human suffering without reducing it to entertainment. Venice remains an influential platform for launching Oscar contenders, but its cultural relevance will depend on whether the attention surrounding its stars also reaches the political and creative questions presented on its screens.
Lo visible y lo oculto, en contexto. / The visible and the hidden, in context.