Venice International Film Festival opens in Italy

The Venice Film Festival (VFF) opened on August 28, 2024, with the premiere of horror-comedy Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, directed by Tim Burton.

Among the most prestigious film festivals in the world, Venice International Film Festival was established in 1932, and marks the start of awards season, regularly introducing potential Oscars favourites.

This year's festival is also doing its best to avoid any drama, going as far as to ensure that actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, currently embroiled in contentious divorce proceedings arrive and depart on different days, avoiding any overlap.

Angelina Jolie gestures as she arrives at the Excelsior hotel during the 81st Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy, August 29, 2024 REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

Legendary French actor, Isabelle Huppert, presides over the VFF jury this year, which will award eight trophies in different categories to the best from among 21 competing films, the most coveted of which is the Leone d'Oro - the Golden Lion, for Best Film.

This year's movie lineup includes Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux; Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas film Maria, starring Angelina Jolie; the erotic thriller Babygirl starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson; Luca Guadagnino’s William S. Burroughs adaptation Queer, with Daniel Craig and Jason Schwartzman; and Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film, The Room Next Door, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

The festival closes on September 7, 2024, with Pupi Avati's The American Backyard.

- With information from Reuters and AFP