Clooney's new film to premiere in Venice

'Goodnight and Good Luck' is one of several American films receiving their world premiere at the festival.

Jul 29 2005

George Clooney's second effort as a director is one of a slew of American films screening at this year's Venice Film Festival.

'Goodnight and Good Luck', which stars Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Daniels and Clooney himself, revolves around broadcaster Edward R Murrow's battles with Senator Joe McCarthy during the 1950 witch-hunts.

It will also be one of an unprecedented nine US films making their world premiere at the festival.

'Hollywood is betting on Venice' said festival director Marco Muller at the press launch in Rome yesterday. 'It is unprecedented that the major studios would give this many films from the upcoming slate for world premieres to a festival.'

Those titles include Cameron Crowe's 'Elizabethtown' (pictured above), John Singleton's 'Four Brothers', Steven Soderbergh's 'Bubble', Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride', Terry Gilliam's 'The Brothers Grimm' and John Turturro's 'Romance & Cigarettes'.

Venice will also feature a strong Asian element this year, with Tsui Hark's 'Seven Swords' opening festivities, Peter Ho-sun Chan's 'Perhaps Love' closing them, and a 'Secret History of Asian Cinema' retrospective running throughout.

Local film will also be well represented, with three Italian films appearing 'In Competition': Pupi Avati's 'La Seconda Notte di Nozze', Cristina Comenchi's 'La Bestia nel Cuore' and Roberto Faenza's 'I Giorni dell’Abbandono'.

Other notable titles to look out for include Werner Herzog's 'The Wild Blue Yonder', Park Chan-Wook's 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance', Ang Lee's 'Brokeback Mountain' and Fernando Meirelles' 'The Constant Gardener', while legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki will be awarded the Golden Lion for career achievement.

The Venice Film Festival runs from August 31 to September 10, and, as ever, our man Dave Calhoun will be out there to report on all the sights and sounds of the 11-day event.

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