The China Mail - Showtime for Venice Film Festival where stars and Gaza protesters gather

Julia Roberts and George Clooney are some of the biggest names expected at the 82nd edition of the world's longest-running festival, with top directors from Kathtryn Bigelow and Guillermo del Toro to Jim Jarmusch all due to arrive on the sandy Lido across the Venice lagoon.

Though festival director Alberto Barbera and jury president Alexander Payne ("Sideways") were keen to focus on the roster of movies making their world premieres in the next 11 days, world events dominated their day-one press conference.

Protesters held up a "Free Palestine" banner in front of the festival's main building, while a group of Italian film professionals have called on organisers to openly condemn Israel's invasion of Gaza.

"We have never hesitated to clearly declare our huge sadness and suffering vis-a-vis what is happening in Gaza and Palestine," Barbera told reporters, while ruling out rescinding invitations to pro-Israeli actors.

Israel's nearly two-year bombardment of Gaza also featured prominently during the Cannes film festival in May where hundreds of movie figures signed a petition saying they were "ashamed" of their industry's "passivity" about the war.

The festival has selected a film about the war for its main competition -- "The Voice of Hind Rajab" by Franco-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, which reconstructs the death of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab who was killed last year by Israeli forces.

- Identity crisis -

Paolo Sorrentino's "La Grazia" -- about an Italian president grappling with doubts over whether to sign into law a euthanasia bill -- was the first in-competition movie screened to the media on Wednesday, the latest from the director best known outside Italy for "The Great Beauty".

Francis Ford Coppola will present daredevil German director Werner Herzog ("Grizzly Man", "Fitzcarraldo") with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement for his more than 70 films over a 60-year career at the opening ceremony Wednesday (from 1700 GMT).

Herzog's latest documentary, "Ghost Elephants", about a lost herd in Angola, will premiere out of competition in Venice.

Eyes are set to quickly turn to Hollywood's favourite leading man, Clooney, who was pictured stepping off a water taxi in Venice with his wife Amal on Tuesday.

He promises to electrify fans for the premiere of Netflix-produced comedy "Jay Kelly", directed by Noah Baumbach, in which he plays a top Hollywood actor with an identity crisis.

On the same night is the premiere of sci-fi comedy "Bugonia" from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, which stars Emma Stone as a pharmaceutical executive kidnapped by people who mistake her for an alien.

The duo's fourth feature together promises more deranged fun after the hilarious Frankenstein reworking "Poor Things" took Venice's top prize in 2023.

Roberts, meanwhile, will appear at Venice for the first time on Friday in the out-of-competition cancel culture drama "After the Hunt", from Italy's Luca Guadagnino.

Winners of the festival's prestigious Golden Bear top prize often go on to Oscar glory, such as "Nomadland" or "Joker" in previous years.

- Return to Venice -

The flurry of premieres also includes Del Toro's big-budget remake of "Frankenstein", starring Oscar Isaac, or Bigelow's political thriller "A House of Dynamite", starring Idris Elba.

In one of the boldest casting choices, British actor Jude Law will try his hand at Vladimir Putin in Olivier Assayas's "The Wizard of the Kremlin", while Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson portrays mixed martial arts champion Mark Kerr in "The Smashing Machine" from Benny Safdie.

Fans of Park Chan-wook will be cheered by the long-awaited return of the South Korean director to Venice after 20 years.

Park was last on the Lido in 2005, when he won two awards with "Lady Vengeance".

The cinematic showman is competing for the Golden Lion with "No Other Choice", a thriller about a laid-off worker who becomes an axe murderer, killing his competitors.

Jarmusch marks his first time in Venice's main lineup with "Father Mother Sister Brother", bringing together Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, while Taiwan-born model and actress Shu Qi makes her directorial debut with "Nuhai (Girl)".

R.Lin--ThChM