Liam and Noel Gallagher walked into film festival territory for the first time this weekend, and Venice responded the way arena crowds have all year: with an eight-minute standing ovation.
The brothers arrived Saturday for the world premiere of “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger,” a documentary chronicling their reconciliation and the sold-out Live ’25 reunion tour that reunited Britpop’s most famously feuding siblings after a 15-year rift. Inside the Palazzo del Cinema, fans clapped through musical numbers, sang along to “Champagne Supernova” as the credits neared, and greeted the brothers beforehand with chants of “C’mon, boys!” One attendee unfurled a Manchester City flag from the balcony, a nod to the team both Gallaghers support.
Directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace and created by “Peaky Blinders” writer Steven Knight, the film combines rehearsal, backstage and onstage footage with the brothers’ first joint interview in more than two decades. Knight has said he wanted the documentary to tell the story of the band’s fans as much as the band itself, describing the reunion as a moment that offered “a broken world” a reason for hope.
Neither Gallagher seemed entirely prepared for the reception. As the ovation stretched on, Liam glanced at his watch and appeared to mouth a question about leaving before members of the filmmaking team persuaded the brothers to stay. Once they did, both descended into the crowd to sign autographs, turning the theater’s aisles into an impromptu scrum of selfies and outstretched programs. Noel, not typically associated with public displays of emotion, appeared to wipe his eyes at one point during the screening.
The premiere fell outside Venice’s main competition, meaning the film isn’t eligible for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, which will be awarded Sept. 12. “Don’t Look Back in Anger” opens in cinemas Sept. 11 before moving to Disney+ later this year. For a band that spent a decade and a half unable to share a stage, the sight of Liam and Noel raising their arms together in triumph offered its own kind of ending, one that even a rock-skeptical crowd of festival regulars couldn’t help but stand for.
