https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Italy in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The glitzy Venice film festival opens on Wednesday with fury over the inclusion of controversial directors Roman Polanski and Nate Parker adding to criticism about a lack of women directors in the running for its top prize. https://www.thelocal.it/20190828/star-studded-venice-film-festival-opens-under-cloud-of-controversy Wed, 28 Aug 2019 09:54:31 +0200 star-studded-venice-film-festival-opens-under-cloud-of-controversy The Venice film festival is facing major backlash for including controversial directors like Roman Polanski and Nate Parker in their line-up this year. https://www.thelocal.it/20190821/venice-film-festival-backlash Wed, 21 Aug 2019 17:22:52 +0200 venice-film-festival-backlash Italian actress Asia Argento, who became a leading figure in the #MeToo movement after accusing powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, admitted she had sex with young actor Jimmy Bennett, who claimed she sexually assaulted him as a teenager. https://www.thelocal.it/20181001/asia-argento-admits-that-she-had-sex-with-jimmy-bennett Mon, 01 Oct 2018 11:21:03 +0200 asia-argento-admits-that-she-had-sex-with-jimmy-bennett US actor Jimmy Bennett, who accuses Asia Argento of sexually assaulting him as a teenager, said in his first television interview since the allegation emerged that they had a "complete" sexual relationship. https://www.thelocal.it/20180924/argento-sex-accuser-bennett-opens-up-on-italian-tv Mon, 24 Sep 2018 15:18:00 +0200 argento-sex-accuser-bennett-opens-up-on-italian-tv The Venice film festival was slammed for its "toxic masculinity" as it opened on Wednesday with just one female director represented. https://www.thelocal.it/20180829/women-directors-accuse-venice-film-festival-of-toxic-masculinity Wed, 29 Aug 2018 18:19:33 +0200 women-directors-accuse-venice-film-festival-of-toxic-masculinity Italian actress and sexual abuse campaigner Asia Argento denied on Tuesday having had a sexual relationship five years ago with an underage teen, calling the allegations part of "a long-standing persecution". https://www.thelocal.it/20180822/italian-actress-asia-argento-denies-sexual-relationship-with-underage-teen Wed, 22 Aug 2018 11:11:55 +0200 italian-actress-asia-argento-denies-sexual-relationship-with-underage-teen Asia Argento, the Italian actress who has said she was raped by disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein at the Cannes film festival, said he would never be welcome there again. https://www.thelocal.it/20180520/actress-asia-argento-cannes-was-weinsteins-hunting-ground Sun, 20 May 2018 04:48:42 +0200 actress-asia-argento-cannes-was-weinsteins-hunting-ground An American actor has accused the Italian director Franco Zeffirelli of sexually assaulting him when they worked together in the 1990s, prompting a fierce rebuttal from the filmmaker’s son. https://www.thelocal.it/20180112/franco-zeffirelli-accused-sexual-assault Fri, 12 Jan 2018 17:19:41 +0100 franco-zeffirelli-accused-sexual-assault Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi backed French actress Catherine Deneuve on Thursday for saying that men should be "free to hit on" women. https://www.thelocal.it/20180112/silvio-berlusconi-backs-catherine-deneuve-on-metoo Fri, 12 Jan 2018 10:02:59 +0100 silvio-berlusconi-backs-catherine-deneuve-on-metoo