US has lions' share at Venice

Michael Moore. Photo / Supplied by NZ Film Festival

Michael Moore's documentary on the global financial crisis, Capitalism: A Love Story, will vie for the top prize at this year's Venice film festival.

It one of six US movies in the main competition at the world's oldest film festival, a sign US film-making is back in business after last year's problems.

"It seemed that the writers' strike, the financial difficulties had slammed the brakes on the most creative part of American cinema, but the selection has never been so great, said festival director Marco Mueller, unveiling the programme.

Also up for the Golden Lion are Werner Herzog's remake of Bad Lieutenant, former Gucci designer Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man and John Hillcoat's The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bestseller starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

One title among the 24 films in the official contest has yet to be unveiled.

Highlights out of competition include Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!, with Matt Damon as the whistle-blower in an agri-business powerhouse, and Joe Dante's 3-D horror The Hole.

George Clooney, star of last year's opening film, will be back on the Lido in Grant Heslov's satirical drama The Men Who Stare at Goats. Italy and France will also loom large with four films each in the main lineup, including Jaco van Dormael's Mr Nobody and Giuseppe Tornatore's Baaria, the first Italian movie to open the festival in two decades.

The heavy US presence promises a steady flow of Hollywood stars on the Lido red carpet and there will be a career award for John Lasseter and his fellow Pixar directors for their animation blockbusters. New 3D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 will screen.

GOLDEN LION CONTENDERS:

Baaria, Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy. Soul Kitchen, Fatih Akin, Germany. La doppia ora, Giuseppe Capotondi, Italy. Yi ngoi (Accident), Pou-Soi Cheang, China-Hong Kong. Persecution, Patrice Chereau, France. Lo spazio bianco, Francesca Comencini, Italy. White Material, Claire Denis, France. Mr. Nobody, Jaco van Dormael, France. A Single Man, Tom Ford, US. Lourdes, Jessica Hausner, Austria. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Werner Herzog, US. The Road, John Hillcoat, US. Ahasin Wetei (Between Two Worlds), Vimukhti Jayasundara, Sri Lanka. El Mosafer (The Traveller), Ahmed Maher, Egypt. Levanon (Lebanon), Samuel Maoz, Israel Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore, US. Zanan-e bedun-e mardan (Women Without Men), Shirin Neshat, Germany. Il grande sogno, Michele Placido, Italy. 36 vues du Pic Saint Loup (36 views from the Pic Saint Loup), Jacques Rivette, France. Survival of the Dead, George A. Romero, US. Life During Wartime, Todd Solondz, US. Tetsuo The Bullet Man, Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan. Lei wangzi (Prince of Tears), Yonfan, China-Hong Kong.

- AP