The China Mail - Venice film fest launches with Adam Driver 'toxic event'

"White Noise" is the first of four Netflix-produced films competing for the top prize Golden Lion over the 11-day festival, as the streaming service seeks to burnish its artistic credentials.

It stars Driver as a Hitler studies professor in a small college town, which experiences an "Airborne Toxic Event".

The story is adapted from a famous 1985 novel by Don DeLillo that dissects US consumer culture. It reunites Driver with director Noah Baumbach following their lauded "Marriage Story".

Netflix has become a key backer of more intellectual directors as traditional Hollywood studios fixate on superhero and franchise blockbusters.

Later in the festival, the streamer is premiering the highly anticipated "Blonde", a dark retelling of Marilyn Monroe's tragic life, with rising star Ana de Armas in the lead role.

It is also behind "Bardo", the latest from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who launched his previous films "Birdman" and "The Revenant" in Venice on their way to Oscar glory.

- Award-winning directors -

The world's longest-running film festival, first held 90 years ago, takes place on the beach-lined Lido island.

It is well-timed to launch Academy Award campaigns, with a particularly strong track record for directors in recent years.

Eight of the last 10 Best Director Oscars have gone to films that premiered at Venice, including the most recent winner Jane Campion for "Power of the Dog" -- another Netflix production.

Also gracing the Lido on Wednesday was iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve, who wore a Ukrainian flag pinned to her jacket as she arrived to pick up a lifetime achievement award.

The coming days will see fans trying to catch a glimpse of Timothee Chalamet, who stars as a love-sick cannibal in road movie "Bones and All", which reunites him with "Call Me By Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino.

There is early buzz, too, for "The Whale" starring Brendan Fraser -- who has been largely absent from the screen since his heyday in films like "The Mummy" two decades ago -- as a morbidly obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter.

Its director, Darren Aronofsky, won the Golden Lion in 2008 for "The Wrestler" and launched his Oscar-winning "Black Swan" in Venice.

Hollywood and Western Europe dominate the selection of 23 films competing for the hearts of a jury led by US actress Julianne Moore.

One notable exception is Iran's award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose "No Bears" is premiering barely a month after he was imprisoned in Tehran amid a crackdown on dissident directors.

But the movie most likely to get tongues wagging is "Don't Worry Darling", playing out of competition on Monday, which features music megastar Harry Styles in his first leading role, directed by his girlfriend Olivia Wilde.

N.Wan--ThChM