Venice Film Festival Director Blames Bolsonaro and Milei for Lack of Latin American Films

The artistic director of the Venice Film Festival , one of the biggest events in the film calendar, said that Brazil and Argentina had few films selected for this year's edition because of Jair Bolsonaro and Javier Milei . He made the statement in an interview with American magazine Variety .

Alberto Barber, one of the people leading the event, which takes place from August 27 to September 6 in Italy , was asked by the outlet about the current state of cinema made outside the United States. He commented on current productions from Europe , Asia , and Africa , and also spoke about Latin America .

Golden Lion awarded to director David Lynch at the 2006 Venice Film Festival - Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS

"Although we have a film from Colombia , one from Ecuador , one from Mexico and two Argentine shorts, Brazil is completely absent—the country emerged from four years of dictatorship by [Jair] Bolsonaro, who did everything he could to destroy auteur cinema. Argentina is in the hands of [Javier] Milei, who is trying to do the same with Argentine cinema."

The mentions of the former Brazilian president and the current Argentine chief executive come amid criticism the festival has received for the lack of non-English-language films among the nominees and awards. The Brazilian film "I'm Still Here," however, won Best Screenplay last year.

The Venice Film Festival announced last Tuesday (22) the films chosen to participate in its next edition.

See films competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival

Among the main highlights, competing for the Golden Lion will be new films by filmmakers such as Kathryn Bigelow —with the political thriller "A House of Dynamite"—, Guillermo del Toro —and his adaptation of "Frankenstein" —, Yorgos Lanthimos —his new surrealist comedy with Emma Stone , "Bugonia"—, Benny Safdie —in "The Smashing Machine," The Rock plays wrestler Mark Kerr—, Jim Jarmusch— "Father Mother Sister Brother," stitching together three independent stories—and Park Chan-wook —the thriller "No Other Choice." In total, there are 21 films, of which six are directed by women.

Although no Brazilian films have been announced, the festival will feature actress Fernanda Torres , who shone at last year's festival with " I'm Still Here ," as part of the jury chaired by filmmaker Alexander Payne. Also on the list are Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, of "The Seed of the Sacred Fruit," Romanian director and Palme d'Or winner Cristian Mungiu , French filmmaker Stéphane Brizé , Italian director Maura Delpero , who won an award at the festival last year for "Vermiglio," and Chinese actress and producer Zhao Tao.

See the full list of announced films.

'La Grazia', by Paolo Sorrentino (opening film)
'The Wizard Of The Kremlin' by Olivier Assayas
'Jay Kelly' by Noah Baumbach
'The Voice Of Hind Raja' by Kaouther Ben Hania
'A House of Dynamite' by Kathryn Bigelow
'The Sun Rises On Us All' by Cai Shangjun
'Frankenstein' by Guillermo del Toro
'Elisa', by Leonardo Di Costanzo
'A Pied D'Oeuvre' by Valerie Donzelli
'Silent Friend' by Ildiko Enyedi
'The Testament Of Ann Lee' by Mona Fastvold
'Father Mother Sister Brother' by Jim Jarmusch
'Bugonia', by Yorgos Lanthimos
'Duse', by Pietro Marcello
'Un Film Fatto Per Bene', by Franco Maresco
'Orphan', by Lazlo Nemes
'L'Etranger', by François Ozon
'No Other Choice' by Park Chan-wook
'Sotto Le Nuvole', by Gianfranco Rosi
'The Smashing Machine' by Benny Safdie
'Girl' by Shu Qi

'Chien 51', by Cedric Jimenez
'Sermon To The Void' by Hilal Baydarov
'L'Isola Di Andrea', by Antonio Capuano
'Il Maestro', by Andrea Di Stefano
'After the Hunt', by Luca Guadagnino
'Hateshinaki Scarlet' by Mamoru Hosoda
'The Last Viking' by Anders Thomas Jensen
'In The Hand Of Dante' by Julian Schnabel
'La Valle Dei Sorrisi', by Paolo Strippoli
'Dead Man's Wire' by Gus Van Sant
'Orfeo', by Virgilio Villoresi

'Kabul, Between Prayers' by Aboozar Amini
'Ferdinando Scianna - Il Fotografo Dell'Ombra', by Roberto Ando
'Marc By Sofia' by Sofia Coppola
'I Diari Di Angela - Noi Due Cineasti. Capitolo Terzo', by Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi
'Ghost Elephants' by Werner Herzog
'My Father And Qaddafi' by Jihan K
'The Tale Of Syria' by Tamara Kotevska
'Nuestra Tierra', by Lucrecia Martel
'Remake' by Ross McElwee
'Kim Novak's Vertigo', by Alexandre Philippe
'Cover-Up' by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
'Broken English' by Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth
'Notes Of A True Criminal' by Alexander Rodnyansky and Andriy Alferov
'Director's Diary', by Aleksandr Sokurov
'Back Home' by Tsai Ming-liang