Roger Waters, Guy Pearce, Annie Ernaux and other cultural figures have urged the Venice Biennale and Venice Film Festival to take “concrete action” in support of Palestinians, through an open letter organised by Venice4Palestine. The signatories accuse Israel of genocide and say the festival has not acted sufficiently on a similar appeal made the previous year; the request highlights continuing pressure on major cultural institutions to address the conflict publicly.

Among their demands is that Venice fly the Palestinian flag throughout the festival alongside flags representing films in the official selection. The 2026 signatories include filmmakers Isabel Coixet, Céline Sciamma, Matteo Garrone, Arab and Tarzan Nasser, and Eyal Sivan, while Venice4Palestine representatives are due to join a 8 September Lido panel titled *Yet Gaza Continues to Burn*.