Sawt Falasteen - Clooney and Netflix team up for Venice festival spotlight

The rainy skies that dampened the red carpet at Wednesday's opening night of the 11-day festival are forecast to continue, but they aren't likely to put off eager fans willing to brave the weather for a glimpse of charismatic leading man Clooney.

The actor -- who entertained crowds in Venice alongside co-star Brad Pitt at the premiere of "Wolfs" last year -- returns to the watery city for the unveiling of the comedy "Jay Kelly" from director Noah Baumbach.

Clooney had little research to do for the role which sees him play a famous Hollywood actor, albeit one going through an identity crisis, with Sandler playing his manager.

The film is the first of three Netflix-produced features at the festival, with the heavy-hitting US streaming giant seen as desperate to find a strong contender for a first Best Picture award at the next Oscars.

Its big hope at this year's ceremony -- "Emilia Perez" -- saw its campaign for Academy Award glory derailed by a racism scandal involving leading actor Karla Sofia Gascon.

Having sat out Venice in 2024, the platform has two other productions in the 21-film top competition, "A House of Dynamite" by Oscar-winning thriller specialist Kathryn Bigelow and a star-studded remake of "Frankenstein" by Guillermo del Toro.

Adding to the Tinseltown firepower on Thursday will be "Bugonia" by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos who has teamed up again with Stone, hoping to repeat the successful formula from 2023 when they landed Venice's top prize for "Poor Things".

In their latest collaboration, Stone plays a high-powered pharmaceutical executive kidnapped by a pair of conspiracy theorists convinced she is an alien in the zany remake of the South Korean film "Save the Green Planet!" from 2003.

- Anti-war -

Alongside the glitz came protest on the festival's opening day, with demonstrators near the red carpet unfurling a "Free Palestine" and "Stop the Genocide" banner to denounce Israel's war in Gaza.

A group of Italian film professionals have also called on festival organisers to openly condemn Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza, while a larger protest is scheduled for Saturday.

The festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera, has called the movie showcase a place of "dialogue", but has ruled out rescinding invitations to pro-Israel actors.

The festival has selected a film about the war for its main competition -- "The Voice of Hind Rajab" by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, which has the backing of Hollywood A-listers from Pitt to Joaquin Phoenix.

It will premiere next Wednesday.

Jury president Alexander Payne ("Sideways") dodged questions on Wednesday about his personal views on the war in Gaza and he questioned aloud whether films could really "change society or culture".

"I don't know. Doubtful. At least though, when we make films which are relevant to the times, we leave a document that someone was thinking about it," he said.

- Elephants -

German arthouse giant Werner Herzog spoke passionately about his search for "truth in unusual ways" as the acclaimed documentary maker received a lifetime achievement award during Wednesday night's opening ceremony.

"I have always tried to strive for something that goes deeper beyond what you normally see in movie theatres, a deep form of poetry that is possible in cinema," the 82-year-old told the star-studded audience in an acceptance speech.

R.Shaban--SF-PST