Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Ledger drawcard at Venice film festival
Australian heart-throb Heath Ledger is set to be one of the star attractions when he arrives at this years prestigious Venice International Film Festival, which launched with a martial arts epic from Hong Kong.
The 26-year-old actor stars in three of the movies being premiered during the glittering 10-day event, including Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm and Lasse Hallestrom's Casanova.
But its Ang Lees controversial, gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, which is sure to cause a stir as Ledger shares more than a few, sexy on-screen kisses with American co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.
As well as being in town for Brokeback Mountain, the Taiwanese director is one of several film-makers being recognised during this years Asian-themed festival along with Hong Kong director Tsui Hark, whose Seven Swords opened proceedings.
The next 10 days will see some of Hollywood's biggest names descend on Venice for the city's 62nd festival, including Russell Crowe, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Gywneth Paltrow.
Crowe, 41, will be busy touting his boxing drama, Cinderella Man, just a week after reaching a confidential settlement with New York concierge, Nestor Estrada, over a phone throwing incident in June.
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This year's impressive guest list reflects a bid by organisers to reclaim some of the glitz-factor from Cannes and festival-goers will be treated to an unprecedented nine Hollywood premieres.
"This shows how important Venice now is for American cinema," said artistic director Marco Mueller last week.
Hotly-anticipated is Clooney's second directorial outing, Good Night, And Good Luck and the swarthy star's appearance is expected to be a huge draw-card.
Clooney's political thriller is one of 19 films in the running for the prestigious Golden Lion prize which will be announced by the jury on September 10.
The Venice International Film Festival runs from August 31 to September 10.
