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DUBAI: US singer and actress Sofia Carson attended the amfAR Gala Venezia 2025 in a beaded blush gown from Lebanese designer Elie Saab’s Fall/Winter 2025 couture collection on Sunday as Riyadh-based model Georgina Rodriguez touched down in the Italian city.

Emblazoned with floral appliques, the gown boasted fine boning on the corset and puffed upper sleeves over fitted, cuff-length sleeves.

The event featured performances by Paris Jackson and Ava Max, while US actor Colman Domingo hosted the festivities. The gala is an annual fundraiser held on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival by amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Carson was joined by international celebrities, including US singer Halsey, Brazilian model Sofia Resing, US actor Jesse Williams, and English actor Jude Law.

At the event, Carson continued her streak of looks by Saab just over a month after she was spotted wearing an outfit by the designer while promoting her latest project, “My Oxford Year.”

Carson showed off a belted black blouse by the designer in New York in late July, and she completed the outfit with a nude pencil skirt and black leather gloves.

The actress and singer is known for her affinity for Lebanese labels and previously showed off a look by Saab in March while promoting the Netflix film “The Life List.”

Carson arrived at the “CBS Mornings” show in New York City as part of the press tour wearing a green dress from Saab’s Ready-to-Wear Fall/Winter 2023-2024 collection.

She also showed off several looks by the Lebanese designer during Netflix festivities in June. Ahead of “Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event,” the streaming platform’s celebration of global fandom and storytelling, Carson appeared in a white ensemble featuring a tailored blazer, wide-leg trousers and a matching shirt. On a separate occasion, she wore an all-black outfit composed of wide-leg trousers and a sheer top with cape-like sleeves. Both outfits were from Saab’s Ready-to-Wear Pre-Fall 2025 collection.

Carson’s latest look in Venice comes as Riyadh-based Argentine model Georgina Rodriguez touched down in the city for the Venice Film Festival.

Rodriguez, who recently announced her engagement to longtime partner Cristiano Ronaldo, hit the red carpet ahead of the Filming Italy Venice Award ceremony in a custom Roberto Cavalli gown paired with Pasquale Bruni jewelry.

DUBAI: Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera spoke to magazine at the midway point of the famed Italian event and touched on the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza and related protests in Venice.

Thousands of anti-war protesters attended a march on Saturday, with Barbera telling Deadline the protesters did not wish to enter the festival grounds.

“They didn’t want to enter. I think around 30 people tried. I asked the organizers of the protest whether they wanted to send a delegation to the red carpet and they said they weren’t interested in doing that and that they didn’t want to interfere with the festival.”

When pushed by Deadline, whose journalist Andreas Wiseman said: “I thought they had said they wanted to march to the festival center,” Barbera countered with: “No, I don’t think so. I offered them a place on the carpet and they said no.”

Plans for the protest gained momentum after Venice4Palestine, an organization of Italian and international film professionals, issued an open letter last weekend calling on the festival to condemn the suffering caused by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

In Deadline’s interview, published on Sunday, Barbera said: “We made an initial statement and then at the pre-opening of the festival the president of the Biennale made a very strong statement against the war in Gaza. There was a priest alongside him who had been refused entry to Israel in recent weeks and who has been very supportive of Palestine.”

When asked if he would make a personal statement, Barbera said: “I would do but the Biennale doesn’t make political statements. That’s the reason I haven’t so far.”

When it comes to the roster of international films on the festival’s screening agenda, Barbera said: “There are very few Palestinian films each year, this year even less perhaps, because of the war. I saw only one film that could have had the profile of a Competition film. It wasn’t quite good enough for us, from my point of view, so we declined and I think the film will screen at another festival.”