VENICE, Sept 1, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Venice Film Festival returns to the
spotlight Wednesday with an international roster of blockbuster and auteur
movies and Hollywood's jet-set poised to face the cameras.

   Held on the glitzy, beach-lined Lido, the world's oldest film festival
will seek to recover some of the glamour lost last year, when coronavirus
kept away many participants, including the most red carpet-worthy
celebrities.

   But with strict anti-Covid measures in place, "La Mostra", as it is known
in Italy, will again seek to prove that it is the indispensable springboard
for the Oscars, with a first-rate sampling of films from around the globe.

   The bar is high this year, after the rival Cannes Film Festival stole some
focus in July after cancelling its 2020 competition.

   But the director of Venice's festival, Alberto Barbera, told AFP the
pandemic appeared to have stimulated the creativity of filmmakers, with a
particularly high quality of submissions this year.

   "It's like the difficult circumstances... served to stimulate the
creativity of the directors," said Barbera in an interview Tuesday ahead of
the opening, as workers were busy putting the final touches to the red
carpet.

   "Many of the directors' films are among their best," Barbera said. "This
means that probably this edition will be one of the strongest of recent
years."

   - Stars are back -

   A jury led by "Parasite" director Bong Joon-Ho will award one of 21 films
in the main competition the coveted Golden Lion top prize during a closing
night ceremony on September 11.

   "Nomadland", which snatched up multiple Oscars, including best film, at
the 2020 Academy Awards, was last year's Venice winner, although neither
director Chloe Zhao nor leading actress Frances McDormand were able to make
the trip to Italy.

   This year, things should be different, Barbera said, with more Hollywood
talent heading for the festival, more spectators and more worldwide press.

   Among the stars expected to walk the red carpet over the course of the
festival are Kristen Stewart - playing Lady Diana in Pablo Larrain's
"Spencer" -- Benedict Cumberbatch, Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.

   The competition kicks off Wednesday evening with "Madres Paralelas"
(Parallel Mothers), the latest film by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar,
starring Cruz as one of two women from different generations and backgrounds
awaiting childbirth in a maternity ward.

   A Golden Lion for career achievement will be awarded to Italy's Oscar-
winning actor and director Roberto Benigni ("Life is Beautiful").

   On the blockbuster front, and out of the main competition, the $165
million sci-fi "Dune" is set to have its world premiere Friday, while Matt
Damon and Ben Affleck return as writers and stars of Ridley Scott's "The Last
Duel".

   Netflix, which has had prior success at the festival with "Roma" and
"Marriage Story", is behind two of this year's hopefuls, "The Power of the
Dog" by Jane Campion and Paolo Sorrentino's "The Hand of God."