The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in the contemporary arts. It is world-beating for the International Film Festival (61 editions), for the International Art Exhibition (51 editions) and for the International Architecture Exhibition (9 editions), and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music (48 editions) and Theatre (36 editions), now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance (3 editions).

Italy, the country that gave birth to Roberto Rossellini, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, Marcello Mastroianni, Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci has paled in the last years to Hollywood's glamour.


73 years after the first edition of the one of the world's most prestigious film festivals, Venice has opened it's gates again, more as an international showcase.

Only three out of the 19 films in competition were made in Italy and none is said to stand a chance to win the prestigious Golden Lion award.

Among the films included in competition are Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm," starring Matt Damon; "Proof," directed by John Madden and starring Gwyneth Paltrow; "Mary" by Abel Ferrara, and John Turturro's musical "Romance and Cigarettes" starring James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken.

One of the most serious contenders for the Golden Lion is George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck", a serious look at American broadcasting during the 1950s McCarthy-era communist-hunts.

The Venice Film Festival opened with a distinctly Asian flamboyance.
The out-of-competition movie "Seven Swords" by Chinese director Tsui Hark was screened on Wednesday, while Thai-born director Peter Ho-sun Chan's "Perhaps Love," a musical romance set in mainland China, will close the event.

Venezia 62.
In Competition


Pupi AVATI La seconda notte di nozze Italy 103'

Antonio Albanese, Katia Ricciarelli, Neri Marcorè



João BOTELHO O Fatalista Portugal/France 99'

Rogério Samora, André Gomes, Rita Blanco



Laurent CANTET Vers le sud France/Canada 105'

Charlotte Rampling, Karen Young, Louise Portal



Patrice CHÉREAU Gabrielle France/Italy 90'

Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggory, Thierry Hancisse



George CLOONEY Good Night, and Good Luck. USA 90'

David Strathairn, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr, Patricia Clarkson



Cristina COMENCINI La bestia nel cuore Italy 112'

Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Stefania Rocca, Angela Finocchiaro



Roberto FAENZA I giorni dell'abbandono Italy 96'

Margherita Buy, Luca Zingaretti, Goran Bregovic



Abel FERRARA Mary Italy/USA 83'

Juliette Binoche, Matthew Modine, Forest Whitaker



Philippe GARREL Les Amants réguliers France/Italy 178'

Louis Garrel, Clothilde Hesme, Julien Lucas



Aleksey GERMAN JR Garpastum Russia 114'

Chulpan Khamatova, Evgeny Pronin, Danila Kozlovsky



Terry GILLIAM The Brothers Grimm UK 120'

Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Pryce, Monica Bellucci



Stanley KWAN Changhen ge China/Hong Kong 120'

Sammi Cheng, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Jun Hu



Ang LEE Brokeback Mountain USA 134'

Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway



John MADDEN Proof UK/USA 100'

Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anthony Hopkins



Fernando MEIRELLES The Constant Gardener UK/Kenya/Germany 128'

Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Hubert Koundé, Sidede Onyulo



Manoel de OLIVEIRA Espelho magico Portugal 137'

Michel Piccoli, Marisa Paredes, Leonor Silveira, Ricardo Trepa



PARK Chan-wook Chin-jeol-han Geum-ja-ssi (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) Korea 112'

Lee Young-ae, Choi Min-sik, Kwon Yea-young, Kim Si-hu, Nam Il-woo



John TURTURRO Romance & Cigarettes USA 115'

James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken



Krzysztof ZANUSSI Persona non grata Poland/Russia/Italy 110'

Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, Nikita Mikhalkov, Jerzy Stuhr, Remo Girone



Out of Competition


Jaume BALAGUERÒ Fragile Spain 100'

Calista Flockhart, Richard Roxburgh, Elena Andya



Emmanuelle BERCOT Backstage France 115'

Emmanuelle Seigner, Noémie Lvovsky, Isild Le Besco



Peter Ho-sun CHAN Ru guo ai (Perhaps Love) China/Hong Kong

Jacky Cheung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jin-hee Ji, Zhou Xun



Mehdi CHAREF, Emir KUSTURICA, Spike LEE, Kátia LUND, Jordan SCOTT, Ridley SCOTT, Stefano VENERUSO, John WOO All the Invisible Children Italy 108'

Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Wenli Jiang, Francisco Anawake



Cameron CROWE Elizabethtown USA 133'

Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon



Scott DERRICKSON The Exorcism of Emily Rose USA 119'

Jennifer Carpenter, Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson



Stuart GORDON Edmond USA 90'

William H. Macy, Joe Mantegna, Julia Stiles



Lasse HALLSTRÖM Casanova USA 108'

Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin



Ron HOWARD Cinderella Man USA 144'

Russel Crowe, Renée Zellweger



John IRVIN The Fine Art of Love - Mine Ha-Ha Italy/Czech Republic/UK 107'

Jacqueline Bisset, Enrico Lo Verso, Galatea Ranzi, Eva Grimaldi, Tomás Hanák



Mike JOHNSON, Tim BURTON Corpse Bride UK 75'

animation. Johnny Depp (voice), Helena Bonham Carter (voice)



Andrew LAU, Alan MAK Initial D Hong Kong 108'

Jay Chou, Anne Suzuki, Edison Chen, Anthony Wong, Kenny Bee



Neil MARSHALL, The Descent UK 103'

Natalie Mendoza, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora Jane Noone, Alex Reid



MIIKE Takashi Yokai Daisenso Japan 124'

Bunta Sugawara, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hiroyuki Miyasako



NOMURA Tetsuya Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Japan 90'

animation



Bruno PODALYDÈS Le parfum de la dame en noir France 115'

Denis Podalydès, Sabine Azéma, Olivier Gourmet



John SINGLETON Four Brothers USA 104'

Mark Wahlberg, Fionnula Flanagan, André 3000



Steven SODERBERGH Bubble USA 73'

Debbie Doebereiner, Dustin Ashley, Misty Wilkins



TSUI Hark Seven Swords China/Hong Kong 144'

Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Charlie Young, Sun Honglei, Lu Yi, Kim So Yeun, Kar-leung Lau





Special Event

Hayao Miyazaki - Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement



Hayao MIYAZAKI:

Kaze no tani no Naushika animation. Japan 116'

(Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984)



Kurenai no buta animation. Japan 94'

(Porco rosso, 1992)



On Your Mark animation. Japan 7'

(1995)


Horizons


Matthew BARNEY Drawing Restraint 9 USA 150'

Björk, Matthew Barney, Sosui Oshima



Franco BATTIATO Musikanten Italy 90'

Alejandro Jodorowsky, Sonia Bergamasco, Fabrizio Gifuni



Aleksey FEDORTCHENKO Pervye na lune Russia 75'

(documentary) Boris Vlasov, Victoria Ilyinskaya, Andrei Osipov



Lirio FERREIRA Arido Movie Brasil 115'

Giulia Gam, Mariana Lima, Selton Mello



Michael GLAWOGGER Workingman's Death Austria/Germany 122'

(documentary)



Philip GRÖNING Die Grosse Stille Germany/Switzerland 164'

(documentary)



Werner HERZOG The Wild Blue Yonder Germany/UK/France 81'

Brad Dourif



Rustam KHAMDAMOV Vokaldy paralelder Kazakhistan 65'

(documentary) Renata Litvinova, Erik Kurmangali, Araksija Davtjan



Erden KIRAL Yolda Turkey/Bulgaria 90'

Halil Ergun, Yesim Buber, Serdar Orcin



Lech KOWALSKI East of Paradise France 100'

(documentary)



LI Yu Hongyan (Au fil de l'eau) China/France 93'

Liu Yi, Wang Xingrao, Li Kechun



Jean-Pierre LIMOSIN Carmen France 100'

Natacha Régnier, Johan Leysen, Dominique Reymond, James Thiérrée



Paul MORRISSEY, Bernd BÖHM, Veruschka - (m)ein inszenierter Körper Germany 80'

documentary

Vera von Lehndorff



NING Ying Wu qiong dong China 90'

Hong Huang, Liu Sola, Li Qinqin, Ping Yanni



Fausto PARAVIDINO Texas Italy 100'

Valeria Golino, Valerio Binasco, Fausto Paravidino, Riccardo Scamarcio



Liev SCHREIBER Everything Is Illuminated USA 102'

Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Leskin



Fernando E.SOLANAS La dignidad de los nadies Argentina 120'

(documentary)



Out of Competition

Isabel COIXET La vida secreta de las palabras Spain 112'

Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Julie Christie, Javier Camara



Special Event

Gil ROSSELLINI Kill Gil (Vol. I) Italy 90'

Gil Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini