‘Blonde’, ‘White Noise’ share Venice Film Festival limelight

A Marilyn Monroe drama "Blonde" by Dominik; a cannibal road movie "Bones and All" by Luca Guadagnino; and a black comedy film "White Noise" by Noah Baumbach, are among the top films being showcased at this year's Venice Film Festival.

The world's oldest film festival, regarded as a launch pad for Oscar contenders as awards season approaches, runs from August 31 to September 10, and features dozens of hotly anticipated movies both in and out of competition.

Among the leading lights expected to show up on the red carpet will be Timothée Chalamet, Sadie Sink, Adam Driver, Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, Penelope Cruz, Ana de Armas, Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Christoph Waltz and Sigourney Weaver.

International art house directors will share the stage with established Hollywood figures, as pictures by Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Alejandro Inarritu, Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, Koji Fukada and Jafar Panahi get their first outing.

Four originals by the TV streaming giant Netflix line up in the 23-title competition section, including Dominik's "Blonde", which stars de Armas in a fictionalised take on the tragic life of U.S. actress Monroe.

For the first time, Netflix gets the honor of opening the festival with Noah Baumbach's "White Noise" starring Driver and Greta Gerwig - a satiric chronicle of family life that is based on a novel of the same name by Don DeLillo.

One of the most anticipated films is likely to be "Bones and All" featuring Chalamet alongside rising star Taylor Russell as impoverished cannibal lovers in a picture directed by Italy's Luca Guadagnino.

"It analyses the poorest and most marginalised in America, the failure of the American Dream," the festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera, said on Tuesday.