Chinese director Zhang Yimou (3rd L) attends the opening ceremony of the Venice Film Festival 2007 in Venice, Italy, Aug. 29, 2007. Zhang has been chosen to head an all-director jury at this year's Venice Film Festival opened here on Wednesday. [photo: Xinhua]
Creative tension was in the air Wednesday August 29th as the 75th anniversary of the Venice Film Festival kicked off with the psychological drama "Atonement" by Britain's Joe Wright, who also directed "Pride and Prejudice".
Based on the best-selling novel by Ian McEwan and starring Keira Knightley, the film also features Vanessa Redgrave, 70, who plays Knightley's character in later years.
Also on Wednesday, China's Ang Lee unveiled his greatly anticipated erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution," set in 1940s' Shanghai.
This year's Mostra, which runs through Sept. 8, has a bumper crop of American and British selections, while also remaining true to its tradition of showcasing Asian cinema.
All of the 22 films in competition will be world premieres, a feat achieved only once before -- last year.
Another 22 films will vie for prizes in the avant-garde Horizons and Horizons Documentaries categories, while 13 will be screened out of competition.
The out-of-competition menu will offer Woody Allen's latest film "Cassandra's Dream," a drama set in south London, "La Fille Coupee en Deux" by French veteran Claude Chabrol and a new comedy by Japanese director Takeshi Kitano, "Kantoku Banzai!" ("Glory to the Filmmaker!").
Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who won Golden Lions for "The Story of Qiu Ju" (1992) and "Not One Less" (1999), will head the jury of this year's edition of the Mostra.
