Image: AFP
The women, some of them bare-breasted, protested against the presentation at the Venice Film Festival of films by directors such as Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson, who have faced allegations of sexual violence. “Turn off the spotlight on the rapists!” the group of women and some men shouted before being chased away by security personnel. The feminists staged the protest during the red carpet of the film ‘Coup de chance’ as director Woody Allen walked by with his wife Soon-Yi Previn. The protesters distributed a leaflet warning that three people facing criminal charges of sexual abuse and sexual violence are represented with as many films at the festival: Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson.
“This year the Venice Film Biennale has chosen to give space to directors implicated in cases of sexual violence against women and even minors. The excuses of the director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, follow the old scheme of the distinction between the man responsible before the law, and the artist whose genius can never be judged because it is sublime and free from earthly responsibility,” the demonstrators criticized.
“Today we denounce the behavior of events like the Venice Film Festival, which in reality choose to further legitimize the culture of rape,” the feminists concluded.
Source: Nachrichten
