VENICE, Italy, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The 81st Venice Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday on Lido Island in Venice, Italy, showcasing 21 films competing for the prestigious Golden Lion award.
The festival opened with the premiere of "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," the latest film by Tim Burton, with the opening ceremony hosted by Italian actress Sveva Alviti.
The international jury is led by French actress Isabelle Huppert, who is known for winning multiple Best Actress awards at Cannes and other prestigious film awards. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is also one of the jury members this year.
The film lineup this year includes the crime drama "Joker: Folie à Deux," with Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker and Lady Gaga as his romantic partner; "The Room Next Door," the first English-language film from Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar; "Maria," starring Angelina Jolie as opera legend Maria Callas, and the thriller "Baby Girl," featuring Nicole Kidman.
In addition to the main competition, the festival includes other sections which highlight films representing the latest aesthetic and expressive trends, debut films and virtual reality works.
First held in 1932, the Venice Film Festival is the oldest of its kind and. Together with the Cannes Film Festival in France and the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, It is one of the three major film festivals in Europe.
