Prominent artists and writers demand concrete action for Palestine at Venice festivals
Roger Waters, Annie Ernaux, Guy Pearce and dozens of cultural figures have signed an open letter urging the Venice Biennale and Film Festival to take tangible steps in support of Palestinians.
A coalition of international artists, writers and filmmakers, among them Roger Waters, Annie Ernaux and Guy Pearce, has launched an open letter addressed to the Venice Biennale and Venice Film Festival, demanding concrete measures to support the Palestinian people. The Venice4Palestine initiative asks the festivals to raise the Palestinian flag for the entire duration of the program and to sever collaborations with organizations connected to the Israeli state.
The 2026 list of signatories features directors Isabel Coixet, Céline Sciamma, Matteo Garrone, Palestinian directors Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser, and French-Israeli filmmaker Eyan Sivan, among many others. Organizers will present a panel called “Yet Gaza Continues to Burn” on September 8 at the Casa degli Autori on the Lido. The petition follows a prior open letter from a year earlier that reportedly failed to achieve substantive change. The letter also references broader actions such as dockworker protests, jury resignations at the Biennale, and a flotilla challenging the Israeli siege, urging cultural workers to adopt similar tactics.
Why it matters
The appeal seeks to mobilize major cultural institutions to pressure for policy change regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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