PRO-Palestinian activists have marched on the Venice Film Festival as Hollywood stars gathered for the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein
An estimated 5,000 people gathered chanting the highly controversial “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which many see as calling for the destruction of Israel .
Around 5,000 people joined the Pro-Palestine march to the Venice Film Festival
Marisa del Toro, Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan attend the Frankenstein red carpet event in Venice
Jacob Elordi plays the monster in the new film version of Frankenstein
Oscar Issac stars as Dr Frankenstein in the movie
Protesters also carried flags and banners which read “Stop Starving Gaza ”.
As they neared the festival site, Italian police set up a cordon to keep the demonstrators away from the premiere where celebrities had been walking the red carpet .
Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi is the monster in this adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel ,
The Venice Film Festival, which started on August 27, has seen a host of A-listers appear including Julia Roberts , George Clooney , Adam Sandler and Kim Kardashian .
One notable absentee has been Israeli actress Gal Gadot despite her starring with Gerard Butler in In The Hand of Dante, which premieres at the star-studded event.
Both stars are supporters of Israel.
While the demonstrators attempted to draw attention to their cause they were drowned out by the noise of paparazzi and the celebrity buzz around the premiere.
Protests had been anticipated at the festival and a ring of steel has been erected around the group of cinemas used for the festival.
Heavy security has been put in place, including body scanners, bag checks and security passes are being deployed to monitor delegates and ticket holders.
The film festival, which is the oldest in the world, runs until September 6.
Pressure group Artists 4 Palestine had attempted to get festival organisers to withdraw invitations to Gadot and Butler as well as “any artist and celebrity who publicly and actively supports genocide.”
Venice Film Festival boss Alberto Barbero said earlier this week that their invitations were not revoked but confirmed Gadot was not coming to Venice.
Mr Barbero said: “The position of the Biennale is on the one hand we are an Italian cultural institution, a place of openness and debate that does not censor anybody.
“We’ve been asked to turn down invitations to artists – we will not do that, if they want to be here they will be here.
“On the other hand we have never hesitated to clearly declare our huge sadness and suffering vis-a-vis what is happening in Gaza and Palestine.
“The death of civilians and especially children who are victims – they are the collateral damage of a war nobody has been able to terminate yet.”
Forza Italia MP Isabella De Monte, who is the deputy head of the party’s Foreign Affairs Department, said: “Dialogue and a plurality of ideas are the main tools that culture deploys to overcome sectarianism.
“It’s good that Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco emphasised this to the 1,500 artists who were calling for a boycott of Gal Gadot and her film with Gerard Butler.
“A reckless protest, because in the eyes of those protesting, Gadot’s only crime is being Israeli. The Venice Film Festival deserves respect.’”
The ongoing war between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel has divided Hollywood and the wider film community.
Brad Pitt has taken on an executive producer role on the Gaza drama The Voice of Hind Rajab, which is also due to premiere at the festival.
The film tells the story of a young Palestinian girl – Hind Rajab – who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year along with six of her family members when they were fleeing Gaza City.
It is directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania with actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara also executive producing.
Frankenstein is up for the big awards at Venice, where it will be competing with films like Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice.
Winners will be announced by the Alexander Payne-led jury on September 6.
Netflix plans to release Frankenstein in theatres on October 17, before it comes to streaming on November 7.
Police prevent pro-Palestinian protesters from entering the Venice International Film Festival area
Demonstrators chanted the controversial ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’
Israeli actress Gal Gadot says she won’t attend the festival 
