The China Mail - Venice film festival promises Pattinson, Oasis and Musk doc

Organisers unveiled a programme packed full of independent studio and arthouse productions, but lacking major Hollywood support -- a pattern seen at other European festivals this year.

A total of 20 films will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion top award over the September 2-12 festival, including "Prime Time" by Lance Oppenheim about an American TV show that sought to expose paedophiles.

It stars Pattinson, fresh from his acclaimed performance as the villainous Antinous in current box-office champion "The Odyssey" by Christopher Nolan.

"This film is the true story of the unscrupulous host of a disturbing reality show by NBC," Venice festival director Alberto Barbera told reporters.

Other in-competition highlights include "Wild Horse Nine", a dark comedy by Ireland's Martin McDonagh starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, as well as "Bunker" by Florian Zeller featuring real-life Spanish power couple Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

As previously announced, the competition will open with a film about press baron Rupert Murdoch's transformation of the British media by "Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle.

The latest movie from veteran Werner Herzog, "Bucking Fastard", featuring sisters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara, will also be in the running for the Golden Lion.

- Hollywood ghosting -

Hollywood and US streaming giants Netflix and Amazon chose Venice to host a series of big-budget films last year, but they have steered clear this year.

European festivals typically rely on Hollywood to provide a dose of mass-market entertainment alongside the sometimes edgy independent cinema that forms the core of their programmes.

The US majors blanked the Berlin festival in February and Cannes in May and the pattern has continued.

Some observers had expected Alejandro Inarritu's "Digger" starring Tom Cruise to make a splashy entrance on the Venice Lido.

The Disney-produced documentary about Manchester rock band "Oasis" and their comeback tour "Don’t Look Back in Anger" is an exception.

"The Gallagher brothers have promised they will be in Venice," Barbera told reporters.

Another documentary is also guaranteed to attract attention, but will challenge viewers' powers of concentration: a four-hour exploration of Elon Musk by American director Alex Gibney.

"He traces the whole career, the contradictions, and the power that is centralised in the hands of a single man," Barbera explained.

There will also be plenty of overtly political fare tackling state repression in Hungary ("Ground Floor" by Gabor Reisz), Belarus ("Letters From The Silenced Country" by Andrei Kutsila) and Iran ("A Bit of Light" by Ali Asgari).

Several films look at violence in Israeli-controlled Palestinian territory, while "Citizen Osama" by Ahmed Hassouna follows a photojournalist documenting the killing and destruction by Israeli troops in Gaza.

S.Davis--ThChM