(ANSA) - Nineteen films will be competing for the Golden Lion at this year's Venice International Film Festival including the second directorial effort by Hollywood heart throb George Clooney .
The 62nd edition of the festival runs at the Lido from August 31 to September 10 and will open with the world premier of Qi Jian (Seven Swords), the new film by Tsui Hark. Heading the jury this year will be Italy's Oscar-winning set designer Dante Ferretti, who will be joined by Chinese author Ah Cheng, French film director Claire Denis, German director Edgar Reitz, Icelandic musician and actress Emiliana Torrini, whose father is Italian, and American independent producer Christine Vachon.
Clooney will be presenting his film 'Goodnight and Goodluck', which comes three years after his directorial debut 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'. Also competing will be 'The Brothers Grimm', by ex-Monty Python Terry Gilliam; Abel Ferrara's 'Mary'; 'Romance and Cigarettes' by actor John Turturro; Ang Lee's 'Brokenback Mountain; and 'Proof' by John Madden.
A record 11 English language films, nine of them world premiers, will be screened at this year's festival. The Italian films in competition are: 'La seconda notte di nozze' by Pupi Avati; Cristina Comencini's 'La bestia nel cuore'; and 'I giorni dell'abbandono' by Roberto Faenza.
Italy co-produced Ferrara's film as well as the French films 'Gabrielle' by Patrice Chereau and Philippe Garrel's 'Les Amants Réguliers; and the Polish-Russian film 'Persona Non Grata' by Krzysztof Zanussi. The other films competing for the top award are: 'The Constant Gardener' by Fernando Meirelles (Britain/Kenya/Germany); Jo o Botelho's 'O Fatalista' (Portugal/France); 'Vers le sud' by Laurent Cantet (France/Canada); 'Garpastum' by Aleksey German Jr, (Russia); Stanley Kwan's 'Changhen ge' (China/Hong Kong);'Espelho magico' by Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal); and Park Chan-wook's 'Chin-jeol-han Geum-ja-ssi' (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, South Korea).
Another 40 or so films will also be shown in the 'Out of Competition' and 'Horizon' sections and one dedicated to the Secret History of Asian Cinema, which will focus on the 'invisible' cinema of the Far East. Festival organizers said on Thursday that special security measures will be adopted this year in the wave of the recent wave of international terrorist bombings.
