Sarah Friedland, the Jewish-American director who won several awards at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, including the Best Director Award, condemned Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
He announced on the stage of the Palace of Cinema in Venice: As a Jewish-American artist, I must note that I accept this award on the 336th day of the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the 76th year of Israel’s occupation.
Sarah Friedland added: I believe that our responsibility as people who work in the field of cinema is to use the institutional frameworks through which we work to confront Israel’s impunity on the world stage. I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom.
The 81st Venice International Film Festival this week witnessed a wave of solidarity with the Palestinians as the Zionist regime continued its brutal attack on Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Filmmakers, actors and political activists expressed their support for the Palestinian cause and condemned what they described as Israel’s genocide against the people of Gaza.
The solidarity with Palestinians at the Venice Film Festival comes just days after around 300 directors signed an open letter protesting the screening of two Israeli films at the festival. The letter states that Israeli films “participate in sanctifying Israel’s oppression of Palestinians, and the Venice Film Festival has remained silent on Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. This silence deeply angers us.”
