George Clooney opens the Venice Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award and critical words about the media

The Venice Festival begins with a tribute to George Clooney, who effortlessly answers the world's big questions. And the jury president achieves amazing things.

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George Clooney marked the start of the Venice Film Festival. First, he received the Golden Lion for his life's work at the Palazzo del Cinema, and Laura Dern described him in her laudatory speech as a grounded star, team player and reliable colleague. Afterwards, Clooney appeared at the press conference as an optimistic commentator on politics, climate, family and Hollywood, but warned of worrying developments in the USA with regard to media ownership and journalism. In the festival program, the opening film “Ink” reflects this concern, with Danny Boyle recounting the rise of Rupert Murdoch and the radical tabloidization of “The Sun” as a rapid, acute media transformation. At the end, jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal's press conference also highlighted structural problems in the film industry when she openly addressed the small number of female directors and political conflicts and defended the cinema as a place of empathy.

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Of course, the laudatory speech could also have been given by Julia Roberts, the colleague with whom George Clooney made the most films, five in total. Or his old friend Brad Pitt, executive producer of Wim Wenders’ film From Inside Out – The Architecture of Peter Zumthor, which will premiere here in Venice. But it was Laura Dern, the great, exalted actress forever linked to David Lynch, who delivered Clooney's Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement eulogy last night at the Palazzo del Cinema.

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The article answers these questions:

How did George Clooney present himself at the opening of the Venice Film Festival?

What does the opening film “Ink” say about media power and tabloidization?