[66] mostra internazionale d'arte cinematografica comincia oggi

Una scena del film Baaria

Here are the entries in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, which kicks off today:

- 36 vues du Pic Saint Loup - Jacques Rivette (France)
- Accident - Cheang Pou-Soi (China-Hong Kong)
- Baaria - Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy) Opening Film
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Werner Herzog (U.S.)
- Between Two Worlds - Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka)
- Capitalism: A Love Story - Michael Moore (U.S.)
- La doppia ora - Giuseppe Capotondi (Italy)
- Il grande sogno - Michele Placido (Italy)
- Lebanon - Samuel Maoz (Israel)
- Life During Wartime - Todd Solondz (U.S.)
- Lo spazio bianco - Francesca Comencini (Italy)
- Lourdes - Jessica Hausner (Austria)
- Mr. Nobody - Jaco van Dormael (France)
- Persecution - Patrice Chereau (France)
- Prince of Tears - Yonfan (Hong Kong)
- The Road - John Hillcoat (U.S.)
- A Single Man - Tom Ford (U.S.)
- Soul Kitchen - Fatih Akin (Germany)
- Survival of the Dead - George Romero (U.S.)
- Tetsuo the Bullet Man - Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
- The Traveler - Ahmed Maher (Egypt)
- White Material - Claire Denis (France)
- Women Without Men - Shirin Neshat (Germany)

This page gives a run down on the entries.

Snippets:

During last year's festival, a founder of Sony Classic saw a man using a chronometer to measure the applause during the premiere of "Rachel Getting Married," which lasted nine or 10 minutes, Mueller said. The man was from a group of German film distributors, who widened the release of the film based on the applause from Venice's audience.

Likewise, Kathryn Bigelow's "Hurt Locker," received a 10-minute standing ovation, despite mixed critical reaction. "Still, the film traveled on the first impact, on the first response in Venice. It found a North American deal in Toronto and went on to become one of the box office hits of last season."

Closer to home, an Italian film opens the festival for the first time in 20 years. Giuseppe Tornatore, who won an Oscar in 1998 for "Cinema Paradiso," will premiere "Baaria," a film about life in a small town in his native Sicily.

"Baaria is really what the (Italian) industry needed at this time. A film which proves it makes a lot of sense for the industry to invest large sums in a creator's dream, because then the industry can go back to being the dream machine."