LIVE: Julia Roberts Ayo Edebiri arrive Venice Film Festival

LIVE: Julia Roberts Ayo Edebiri arrive Venice Film Festival

Dozens of Hollywood A-listers descend on the Venice film festival this week, but activists hope to shift the spotlight from the red carpet to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The 82nd annual Venice International Film Festival is taking place from 27 August to 6 September 2025, at Venice Lido in Italy. American filmmaker Alexander Payne served as Jury President for the main competition, while Italian actress and comedian Emanuela Fanelli hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.

Israeli actress Gal Gadot is staying away from the Venice Film Festival in the wake of a political row over whether she should attend.

The actress is the star of one of the films which will be premiering in Venice this year, called In The Hand of Dante.