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Despite ongoing strikes in Hollywood that led to the exodus of Luca Guadagnino<\/strong>\u2019s Challengers<\/em> from its opening slot<\/a> last week, the Venice Film Festival<\/a> will proceed\u2014but not without a wave of early backlash.<\/p>\n When the prestigious festival unveiled its lineup<\/a> on Tuesday, alongside films from Sofia Coppola, David Fincher, Ava DuVernay,<\/strong> and Bradley Cooper<\/strong> were works from a trio of men accused of sexual misconduct. Woody Allen<\/strong>\u2019s Coup de Chance<\/em> and Roman Polanski<\/strong>\u2019s The Palace<\/em> each scored out-of-competition slots, while Luc Besson<\/strong> will debut his new feature, DogMan,<\/em> in competition at the fest.<\/p>\n \u201cLuc Besson has been recently fully cleared of any accusations. Woody Allen went under legal scrutiny twice at the end of the \u201990s and was absolved. With them, I don\u2019t see where the issue is,\u201d Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera<\/strong> told Variety<\/em><\/a> in defense of their inclusion in the lineup.<\/p>\n Allen, whose next film is his first entirely in French, has been accused of sexual abuse<\/a> against his adopted daughter in 1992, allegations for which he was never charged and which he has denied. Since 2018, multiple women have alleged sexual misconduct<\/a> against Besson, who denies any wrongdoing<\/a> and was cleared of rape accusations<\/a> by a French court last month.<\/p>\n Polanski is the lone filmmaker in this group to be criminally charged for a sex crime. In 1977, he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He\u2019s been living mostly in France since 1978,<\/a> when he fled the United States on the eve of receiving his sentence because he believed the judge was going to send him to prison<\/a>. He has since been accused of sexual abuse in 2010<\/a>, 2017<\/a>, and 2019<\/a>, totaling six allegations altogether. Polanski denies all the claims<\/a> and even reportedly threatened to sue<\/a> his most recent accuser.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Polanski\u2019s case, it\u2019s paradoxical,\u201d Barbera argued. \u201cIt\u2019s been 60 years. Polanski has admitted his responsibility. He\u2019s asked to be forgiven. He\u2019s been forgiven by the victim<\/a>. The victim has asked for the issue to be put to rest. I think that to keep beating on Polanski means seeking a scapegoat for other situations that would deserve more attention,\u201d he continued, adding, \u201cI am on the side of those who say you have to distinguish between the responsibilities of the individual and that of the artist.\u201d<\/p>\n Polanski will not be attending the festival, which runs from August 30 to September 9. Barbera is \u201cnot sure\u201d that Allen \u201cwill be doing press,\u201d but \u201che is coming to the film\u2019s premiere for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n