San Francisco Frontiers - Venice festival gets underway with Clooney taking swipe at US government

The glamorous cinema showcase on the sun-splashed Lido is poised to hand the 65-year-old Clooney a lifetime achievement award later Wednesday during the opening ceremony.

But Clooney first weighed in on the state of US politics, telling a press conference the country was living through an "unfortunate" time in its history.

"There's a great word, a kakistocracy, which is a country run by the least qualified people. I think maybe we have a kakistocracy right now, but we'll get through it," Clooney told journalists.

Gyllenhaal, meanwhile, questioned the fact that only two women directors were in the festival's main competition, calling the shortfall a "systemic problem".

Clooney's presence to receive an award provides a shot of A-list adrenaline to the world's oldest film festival despite Hollywood studios mostly staying away this year.

"Look, careers are really funny. It's so many different accidents that get you here. So many different lefts and rights and things that could have gone wrong or right," Clooney said.

"It really requires luck all the way through."

- 'Totalitarian evil' -

Although this year's festival may lack mass-market blockbusters, there is no shortage of larger-than-life subjects, with films about Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch and the volatile Gallagher brothers from the Britpop band Oasis.

Running through September 12, the festival offers a strong lineup of independent films, including the main competition's only documentary -- "Naza", about the Israeli forces' killing of civilians in Gaza, from Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.

The directors won an Oscar for 2024's "No Other Land", which documented Israel's displacement of a Palestinian community in the West Bank.

Opening the festival Wednesday is "Ink", about the ruthless rise of Rupert Murdoch to the top of the British media, from "Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle.

"Wild Horse Nine", from the director of "In Bruges", Martin McDonagh, sees John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as eccentric CIA agents, while Florian Zeller's psychological thriller "Bunker" features real-life Spanish power couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

Ilya Khrzhanovsky's "DAU", a multi-year film project about Soviet physicists, has been accused by Ukraine's government of having links "to the Russian state and its influence networks".

In a detailed rebuttal, Khrzhanovsky noted he renounced his Russian citizenship to protest the Ukraine war and said the film "is not an instrument of Russian state cultural policy.

"It is an artistic statement about the nature of totalitarian evil," he wrote on Facebook.

Also competing for the top Golden Lion prize is Venice veteran Werner Herzog, with his feature "Bucking Fastard" starring sisters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara, and US director Lance Oppenheim, whose "Primetime" about a reality TV show to catch criminals involves Robert Pattinson.

- Comeback couple -

Absent this year are the big Hollywood premieres that have been a Venice hallmark in recent years -- with many films often going on to snare Oscar awards -- a pattern seen at other European festivals from Cannes to Berlin.

Risk-aversion on the part of budget-conscious studio executives means many studios have preferred to launch films through their own tightly controlled premieres instead of at festivals, which provide no guarantee of rave reviews from critics.

An exception is the Disney-produced out-of-competition documentary "Don't Look Back in Anger", covering last year's comeback tour of Manchester rock band Oasis and the reconciliation of long-feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.

Festival organisers have promised that the Gallaghers will be on the red carpet for Saturday's premiere.

One big name likely to stay far from the Venice limelight is Elon Musk, the central figure in a documentary from US filmmaker Alex Gibney.

The world's richest man, Musk has called the four-hour out-of-competition film from the respected Oscar-winning documentarian a "hit piece".

Gibney, best known for "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and "Taxi to the Dark Side", has called his latest film an "unvarnished" look at the powerful and culturally influential entrepreneur.

- Art and war -

Venice's focus this year on mostly small, art-house films appears to fit the bill for Susan Sarandon, who is appearing in the Italian film "The Echo Chamber" from director Andrea Pallaoro.

The "Thelma and Louise" star revealed in February that she was fired from her Hollywood talent agency UTA in 2023 after speaking at a pro-Palestine rally, saying she is now working on small projects in Europe and the UK.

Still unknown is whether the war in Gaza will be a focal point of the festival, as it was last year, when "The Voice of Hind Rajab", about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli troops, received a 23-minute standing ovation.

The artistic director of the festival, Alberto Barbera, told AFP there were "no fewer than four films that deal with the Palestinian issue and the current situation in Iran" included this year.

Documentaries at Venice include "Citizen Osama", about a photojournalist in Gaza, and "Road to Jericho", about the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Israeli director Amos Gitai.

T.Rivera--SFF