The Venice Film Festival is strutting its stuff higher than usual this year, waving away claims that the world's oldest feast of cinema fears an upstart event in Rome.
But despite protestations of harmony, a pre-fest spat has spurred Italy's culture minister to demand the two do something about their time clash.
"Rome and Venice will have to harmonise their dates," Francesco Rutelli said on the eve of Wednesday's lagoon kick-off, implying next month's Rome gig should be scheduled later in the year to avoid tensions with its venerable sister - perhaps midway to Cannes in the spring.
The minister talked to Rome's movie-buff mayor, Walter Veltroni, on Tuesday night and Veltroni said he would help work out a solution to the problem.
Veltroni has denied ambitions to challenge Venice, stressing that Rome's focus will be different - wider and less arty - than its venerable cousin.
But a tact-free comment by Venice Director Marco Mueller raised tensions this week, spotlighting the uncomfortable proximity between the two.
On Monday, Mueller told Italian TV "some films which neither we nor Cannes wanted finally found an Italian destination. That way, we didn't have any acrimony from those who'd been refused".
Whether he meant it or not, Mueller's remark was taken as a jibe which really meant Rome was getting Venice's scraps.
Irate Rome fest organisers called it "incredibly offensive" for the capital's debut number and the films it is showcasing. Mueller denied any intent to offend - while Veltroni played down the incident, adding he would "never say a word against Venice".
But he appeared to land some digs of his own by depicting Venice as geared to the film business and his own creation as more viewer-friendly.
The Rome festival, he said, "won't be decided by a jury headed by a Japanese director, a Belgian screenwriter or a German editor" but by 50 frequent cinema-goers picked by veteran director Ettore Scola from hundreds of applicants.
Meanwhile, Venice was busy glamming up for Wednesday night's gala opening to be christened by jury queen Catherine Deneuve and adorned by the biggest names in Italian fashion. Honchos from Fendi, Ferragamo, Diesel and other top houses will attend the world premiere of Brian De Palma's Black Dahlia along with the cult director himself and two of his leads, Scarlett Johanssen and Josh Hartnett.
The Dahlia, based on noir king James Ellroy's bestselling novel, is just one of the blooms Mueller has selected to keep up Venice's newfound reputation for picking winners.
Venice has long seen itself as a laidback alternative to highstrung Cannes, pundits say, but it has upped its game recently with Rome breathing down its neck. "We had 23 Oscar winners last year and we expect to have many more this time around," Mueller said as the curtain quivered over 60 treats like Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, David Lynch's Inland Empire and Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke, A Requiem In Four Acts.
Buffs are also slavering over Manoel de Oliveira's Belle Toujours, Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute, Ethan Hawke's The Hottest Stage and Douglas McGrath's star-studded Infamous with Sigourney Weaver, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Daniel Craig, Sandra Bullock and Peter Bogdanovich.
Gianni Amelio's La Stella Che Non C'e' and Emanuele Crialese's Nuovomondo (The Golden Door) are the two Italian contenders vying for the prized Golden Lion with 20 heavy hitters like Stone's epic, Alain Resnais' long-awaited return, Private Fears in Public Places, Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men and Stephen Frears' The Queen.
Film industry experts think Venice, which runs from August 30 to September 9, has turned up the wattage in a bid to outshine the first edition of the Rome event, which will feature three much-anticipated premieres.
Alongside Steven Shainberg's Fur with festival queen Nicole Kidman as iconic photographer Diane Arbus, Roman festival-goers will be treated to Mira Nair's immigration drama The Namesake and Italian director Paolo Virzi's N with Monica Bellucci and Daniel Auteuil, the story of how
Napoleon's hostile librarian on Elba grew to see the human side of the legend.
In the wake of the Mueller kerfuffle, Veltroni upped the ante further by hinting Rome "might" see the debut of Martin Scorsese's The Departed, a New York Irish Mafia drama starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. Scheduled the way they are now, observers say, the
two fests are bound to vie for stars and premieres.
The Rome fest, running at the new 'City of Music' Auditorium between October 13 and October 21, features around 80 movies compared to Venice's 60-plus.
Mueller may be sniffy about the new kid on the block but the lagoon city probably has good reason to be wary. Venice's facilities pale in comparison with the Auditorium designed by iconic architect Renzo Piano, and the Eternal City has special appeal because it has always played
a much bigger role in the filmmaking world.
What's more, the organizational problems that have overshadowed Venice at times in recent years could make it vulnerable to a glamorous newcomer.
Two years ago Al Pacino famously failed to find a place to see his own film.
But that glitch will be far from the minds of the glitz hounds Wednesday night as Italian actress Isabella Ferrari rings up the Lido curtain amid unusual fanfare.
