Director Julian Schnabel pushed back Wednesday against pro-Palestinian activists’ calls for his “In the Hand of Dante” actors Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler to be disinvited from this year’s Venice Film Festival over their past, public support of Israel.
Schnabel made his feelings on the matter known during Wednesday’s pre-premiere press conference for “In the Hand of Dante,” in which he insisted that Gadot and Butler’s personal views should not prevent them from promoting the film. “I think there’s no reason to boycott artists,” Schnabel told journalists.
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“I selected those actors for their merits as actors, and they did an extraordinary job in the film and that’s about it,” the filmmaker added, suggesting that no more questions be asked about the topic. “I think we should talk about the movie, rather than this issue.”
In conjunction with the start of this year’s Venice Film Festival, an open letter was released by the Venice4Palestine collective urging the festival’s organizers to take a clear stand in condemning Israel’s actions in the ongoing war in Gaza. The letter’s signatories featured filmmakers from across the globe, including Ken Loach, Paolo Sorrentino, Céline Sciamma, Audrey Diwan, and Arab and Tarzan Nasser, as well as actors Charles Dance, Toni Servillo and Jasmine Trinca.
Additional requests were made for the festival to disinvite potential attendees like Butler and Gadot, who have previously supported Israel. Neither was reportedly disinvited from the festival. Nonetheless, neither has traveled to Venice in support of “In the Hand of Dante.”
Based on a 2002 novel by Nick Tosches, Schnabel’s film centers on a handwritten manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” that is found in the Vatican library and eventually makes its way all the way to New York, where its authenticity is tested. In addition to Butler and Gadot, the film’s cast includes Oscar Isaac, John Malkovich, Louis Cancelmi, Sabrina Impacciatore, Al Pacino, Jason Momoa, Benjamin Clementine and filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
Earlier in the festival, jury president Alexander Payne chose not to answer a question about his personal stance on the military action in Gaza.
“Quite frankly, I feel a little bit unprepared for that question. I’m here to judge and talk about cinema,” Payne told journalists at a press conference last Wednesday. “My political views, I’m sure, are in agreement with many of yours. But as far as my relationship with the festival and what the industry does, I have to think about that for a while to give you a measured response.”
The Venice Film Festival’s world premiere screening of “In the Hand of Dante” is scheduled for Wednesday night.
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