The China Mail - Bono says Ukraine 'keeping us free' from fascism

The U2 frontman told the audience at the premiere of a documentary based on his autobiography late Friday that the world is again being threatened by fascism as it was when the festival was set up in 1939.

"Mussolini and the little man with a moustache and his mate Goebbels had taken over the Venice film festival, so this festival was set up to fight fascism," the Irish singer said.

"It took it until 1946 (for the festival to get going) but it stands for that freedom now."

He said Hollywood star Sean Penn -- who is a vocal advocate for Ukraine -- had "brought us some friends from the actual trenches, from the front line in Ukraine, and they're here tonight...

"I just want to thank you because you're keeping us free," Bono added, to loud cheers. "Slava Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine."

Bono, U2 guitarist The Edge and Penn posed for pictures on the red carpet before the premiere with the soldiers.

Earlier the singer, who has spent decades fighting for more aid for Africa and to lift the debt burden from poor nations, lambasted US President Donald Trump's dismantling of USAID, which he said also threatened progress on combating AIDS and HIV.

"What's utterly irrational is taking pleasure in the defacement of these institutions of mercy," Bono told reporters.

The black-and-white documentary, "Bono: Stories of Surrender" is an adaptation of a one-man stage show drawn from his 2022 book, "Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story".

Set to some of U2's most iconic tracks, Bono opens up about the tragedy that marked his childhood, with his mother Iris collapsing and dying at her own father's funeral when the singer was 14.

The film, directed by Andrew Dominik of "Chopper" fame, is also a love letter to the singer's wife Ali Hewson, whom he met when they were both 15, the same fateful day U2 was formed in a Dublin school.

It streams on Apple TV+ from 30 May.

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