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300 Artists Sign Open Letter Opposing Israel Participation in Venice Film Festival

Of Dogs and Men (AE Content)
Of Dogs and Men (AE Content)
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300 Artists Sign Open Letter Opposing Israel Participation in Venice Film Festival

Of Dogs and Men (AE Content)
Of Dogs and Men (AE Content)

Around 300 filmmakers have signed an open letter opposing two Israeli films set to screen at the Venice Film Festival, held from 28 August to 7 September 2024.
Among the signatories are Italian filmmaker Enrico Parenti, actors Niccolò Senni, Simona Cavallari and Chiara Baschetti, in addition to a number of Arab filmmakers and actors — including two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad and actor Saleh Bakri.
It seemed awkward to show two Israeli films at the Venice Film Festival while the war in the Gaza Strip was still in full swing, particularly that the festival administration had earlier opposed Russian participation because of the war in Ukraine.
The letter by filmmakers and artists is aimed at Dani Rosenberg’s Hebrew-language film Al Klavim Veanashim (Of Dogs and Men). The director is known for films that address the issue of the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis. His new film is set against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza.
The second is Amos Gitai’s Why War. The latter stars French actors Irene Jacob, Mathieu Amalric and Micha Lescot. It is a fictional movie filmed against the backdrop of current events in Gaza. However, reports said that it does not address it directly.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the open letter is entitled No Artwashing at 81 Mostra Del Cinema di Venezia.
“We, the undersigned artists, filmmakers and cultural workers, reject complicity with the Israeli regime of apartheid and oppose the artwashing of its Gaza genocide against Palestinians at the 81st Film Festival in Venice,” the letter said.
It added, “Two films screening at the Festival—Of Dogs and Men and Why War—were created by Israeli production companies that are complicit in whitewashing Israel’s oppression against Palestinians.”
In another paragraph, the letter said the Venice Film Festival has remained silent about Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinian people.
“This silence outrages us deeply. As art and film workers around the world, we call for effective and ethical measures to hold apartheid Israel to account for its crimes and system of colonial oppression against Palestinians,” it wrote.
The festival has not issued any reaction or comment. But any response will likely include denying the festival’s support for what is happening in Gaza and its adhering to the separation between art and politics.
In recent years, the Venice festival had faced similar but less important protests when it decided to screen films by directors Roman Polanski, Luc Besson and Woody Allen, who have been accused of sexual harassment on multiple occasions.
At the time, Venice Film Festival boss Alberto Barbera defended his decision, stating that he is “a festival director, not a judge.”
But the protest by filmmakers opposing the screening of two Israeli films constitutes an uncommon development. Therefore, the festival must find justifications beyond those mentioned earlier.
Danny Rosenberg's Of Dogs and Men is about a young girl searching for her missing dog in the midst of the ongoing war.
Amos Gitai's Why War, a movie considered by some Arab critics to be a left-wing anti-government film, is said to be more of a backstory than a report on the present events although it builds on them.

 

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Varieties

Back in the Pink: Senegal Salt Lake Gets Its Color Back

An aerial view of Lake Retba, known as the Pink Lake, in Senegal on March 19, 2025. (AFP)
An aerial view of Lake Retba, known as the Pink Lake, in Senegal on March 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Back in the Pink: Senegal Salt Lake Gets Its Color Back

An aerial view of Lake Retba, known as the Pink Lake, in Senegal on March 19, 2025. (AFP)
An aerial view of Lake Retba, known as the Pink Lake, in Senegal on March 19, 2025. (AFP)

The waters of Senegal's Lake Retba are back to their famous pink hues three years after floods washed away their rosy tinge -- and businessfolk and tourists are thrilled.

No sooner had the news hit social media when Julie Barrilliot, 20, bought a plane ticket to fly over from France.

Widely known as the "Pink Lake," Retba is a magnet for tourists, lying 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the capital Dakar.

Separated from the Atlantic by a narrow dune, the shallow lake is so densely laden with salt that, as in the Dead Sea, bathers float like corks.

Harvesting and selling the salt -- that plays a key role in imbuing the lake with its signature tinge -- from its waters is a lucrative sideline.

But in late 2022, unusual and heavy flooding hit the region, likely aggravated by climate change scientists told AFP at the time, and disturbed the ecological balance of the lake.

Afterwards, the water lost its pinkish color, proving a hammer blow to salt producers, traders, hotel owners and other commercial activities linked to the legendary "Pink Lake".

"In 2023, we noticed that our activities were slowing down and we undertook to rent a pump to extract the excess water from the lake, which had engulfed the entire ecosystem favorable to its pink hue," Amadou Bocoum Diouf, manager of the Chez Salim hotel, told AFP.

"Its depth had gone from two to six meters (6.6 to 20 feet)," Diouf, who is also president of the union grouping traders and hoteliers of the lake, added.

The pumping operation cost them several million CFA francs (several thousand euros) before the government stepped in, he said.

"But it's not all pink?" remarked Barrilliot disappointedly, who tried to console herself with a horse ride near where she was staying.

The hotel manager Ibrahima Mbaye, who heads an association to protect the lake, tried to reassure her that within an hour or two the pink color would be back.

"For there to be pink, it needs warm sun and a fresh wind," Mbaye said. His Gite du Lac hotel has been swamped with phone calls from operators and foreign tourists wanting to know for sure that the lake is back to its famous color.

And just before midday, the waters' shimmer turned to pink.

- 'Capricious' -

Mbaye said that when the conditions are right, there is a high concentration of salt in the lake coming from sea water.

"In contact with the sun, this salt concentration produces a large amount of evaporation, conducive to the proliferation of micro-organisms, particularly those called Pink algae," he added.

Cheikh Mbow, from the state-run National Ecological Monitoring Committee, told AFP that cyanobacteria produced the pink when its red pigment diluted in the water.

When a bus load of tourists pulled up on the pinkest side of the lake, Mbaye's eyes lit up -- his pride at seeing the stretch of water where he was born and that was once the finish line of the legendary Dakar Rally was obvious.

Mouadou Ndiaye, who sells bags and sachets of salt, ran over to the French visitors hoping for some sales before they departed.

"We've hardly had any tourists for more than two years," the 60-year-old said, slightly out of breath and barefoot on the sandy, shell-strewn ground.

He stuck it out during the less-than-rosier times, while many others threw in the towel.

"Many left for the towns and surrounding villages," Maguette Ndiour, head of the Pink Lake salt producers' group, said.

Residents fear intensive building will lead to the lake becoming polluted -- a small group of protesters held a rally that day against plans for 1,000 dwellings near the lake.

Mbow, of the ecological monitoring committee, warned that even minimal pollution could tip the balance.

"It's essential to reduce the negative impact of human activities," he said.

As the sun started to go down by late afternoon, the pink of the lake had begun to fade. "Sometimes it's capricious but it's always beautiful," Ibrahima said, smiling.