George Clooney to open Venice Film Festival

Art and culture in Venice—the lagoon city is once again putting on a major show this year. The 54th Venice Biennale runs until November 27. And from August 31 to September 10, the stars will gather for the Venice Film Festival. It has now been announced that the festival will open with a film by George Clooney.

Date: 30/09/2026

For the fourth time in his remarkable career, George Clooney has taken the director’s chair. He is also the writer and star of the film, titled “The Ides of March,” which is set to open the Venice Film Festival. The film centers on a young public relations professional (Ryan Gosling) who is tasked with helping the presidential candidate from Ohio (George Clooney) with his campaign. In the process, the idealistic campaign aide is drawn into a mire of intrigue and dirty dealings.

George Clooney has had good experiences in Venice before. At the 2005 Venice Film Festival, he won several awards for “Good Night and Good Luck.” George Clooney is always a welcome guest in Venice. As recently as 2009, he was seen cuddling up in Venice with his new girlfriend at the time, Elisabetta Canalis. Will the star have a beauty in his arms in Venice again this year? The paparazzi will be out in force, already hoping for some revealing pictures.

Biennale: Golden Lion for German Pavilion

Meanwhile, the 54th Venice Biennale, which opened earlier this month, is continuing. Those responsible for the German Pavilion were overjoyed: they won the Golden Lion, a feat the Germans last achieved exactly ten years ago. The German Pavilion was to have been designed by Christoph Schlingensief. However, the controversial artist died of cancer in 2010, during preparations for the exhibition. Susanne Gaensheimer, director of the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, who had taken on the role of curator of the German Pavilion, was delighted to accept the award. After Schlingensief’s death, Gaensheimer had decided not to commission another artist to design the pavilion in Venice. Instead, she chose to present the artist Schlingensief and his life’s work. The award thus went posthumously to the artist Schlingensief and curator Susanne Gaensheimer.

Sven Sevens