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The Venice Film Festival Opens with a Rupert Murdoch Film, George Clooney and Plenty of Geopolitics – WTOP News

  • The 83rd Venice Film Festival opens on Wednesday with an opening ceremony honoring actor George Clooney with a Lifetime Achievement award, followed by the world premiere of British director Danny Boyle's 'Ink'.
  • Star wattage has dimmed compared to recent years as rising production costs lead Hollywood studios to stay away, prompting festival chief Alberto Barbera to describe the American film industry as facing a 'serious identity crisis.'
  • Twenty-One films will compete for the Golden Lion award, including director Martin McDonagh's 'Wild Horse Nine', director Lance Oppenheim's 'Primetime', and director Florian Zeller's 'Bunker' starring actors Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
  • The festival serves as a precursor to the Oscars, where eight of the past ten Best Actor or Best Actress awards went to protagonists of films screened in Venice; U.S. actor and director Maggie Gyllenhaal chairs this year's main competition jury.
  • Held on the Venice Lido, a barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon accessible by car, the festival concludes on September 12 with the premiere of director Giovanni Veronesi's Italian costume drama 'Dio ride'.
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59 Articles

Lean Left

George Clooney, the love for Venice and the "cacocracy" of the Trumpian. Many smiles, sober hints of political commitment and an infinite, kind reverence towards the festival and the lagoon city. The half-title that the star of E.R. granted to the press at the opening of Venice 83, before withdrawing tonight the Golden Lion to the career ('a prize for [...] The article 'We live in a cacocracy, but we will get out of it, the Golden Lion George Cl…

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Lean Right

Venice, 2 sets. (askanews) - "We have gone through other difficult periods, but this is one of those. There is a fantastic word, cachistocracy, which indicates a country governed by the less qualified people. I think that perhaps we are living in a 'cachistocracy' at the moment, but we will get out of it." So George Clooney answering a question about the situation in the US at the press conference at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. …

·Rome, Italy
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Center

Venice (Italy), 2 Sep (EFE).- American actor George Clooney lamented this Wednesday at the Venice Festival that his country has become a ‘caquistocracy’ «ruled the least qualified people» but predicted that «with a little luck» it will recover «a certain normality» in 2028, year of presidential elections. «I tend to be [...] The Clooney entry criticizes the ‘caquistocracy’ in the US: In 2028 it could return «certain normality» was first publishe…

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Vanity Fair broke the news in New York, United States on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
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