Meryl Streep paid tribute on Sunday, September 1 in Venice to the work done by the 300 journalists who revealed to the world the scandal of the Panama Papers.  the theme of “The Laundromat” black comedy of Steven Soderbergh that was presented to compete for the Golden Lion award.

"The reason why Panama's papers came to light is that there were journalists who worked for it and some have died," said  the triple Oscar winner at a press conference at the Venice International Film Festival and specifically mentioned Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died in a car bomb attack in front of her home in Malta.

"It's a comedy, yes," she said in reference to the comedy-drama tone chosen by the director, "but a joke that all of us have exhausted," she added. "This is a fun movie but also very important."

Streep was accompanied by Soderbergh and Gary Oldman, who in fiction plays one of Mossack Fonseca's partners, the law firm that starred in the scandal. Antonio Banderas, who plays the second partner, was not in Venice.

The film that competes for the Golden Lion reconstructs the real events behind the unveiling in 2016 of 11.5 million documents detailing the financial circuits that followed by major fortunes of the world to avoid paying taxes.

But it also introduces fictional characters and details: Streep is an already retired woman who suffers an accident on her vacation that leads her to discover a false insurance policy, which turns out to be the end of a thread of a capital scandal.