In The Hand of Dante director Julian Schnabel has hit back against the request from the Venice4Palestine collective for his actors Gal Gadot and
In The Hand of Dante director Julian Schnabel has hit back against the request from the Venice4Palestine collective for his actors Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler to be disinvited from the festival over their perceived views on the Gaza conflict.
“There’s no reason to boycott artists,” said Schnabel, responding to the first question in the press conference for his Venice out of competition film. “I selected those actors for their merits as actors.”
Schnabel added that he had nothing else to say on the topic and was at the conference to talk about his film.
Venice4Palestine, a collective of Italian activist and grassroots groups, made four requests of the festival in the days before its Wednesday August 27 opening.
The requests included that In The Hand of Dante cast members Gadot and Butler be disinvited from the festival over their perceived views on the conflict in Gaza.
According to representatives for Gadot, the actress will not be attending the festival at all.
Gadot, who previously served in the Israel Defence Force, was targeted by activists while filming Kevin Macdonald’s The Runner in London earlier this year.
Five pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested in May after reportedly targeting the filming.
More to follow.
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