Thousands protested Saturday against Israel's siege of Gaza on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival, seeking to move the spotlight from movie drama to real-world trauma.

Organised by left-wing political groups in northeast Italy, the demonstration began in the early evening a few kilometres from the festival where George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Emma Stone have walked the red carpet in recent days.

"The entertainment industry has the advantage of being followed a lot, and so they should take a position on Gaza," Marco Ciotola, a 31-year-old computer scientist from Venice, told AFP at the rally.

"I don't say that everyone needs to say 'genocide', but at least everyone needs to take a position, because........

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