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 Unlike rival Cannes, the
world's oldest film festival did not skip the
2020 edition due to the health crisis but it is
only this year that celebrities are returning in
force to the Lido waterfront, in a show of
support for an industry hammered by lockdowns.
Organisers are banking on a strict anti-COVID
protocol to help keep the 11-day movie marathon
trouble free.
Theatres are operating at half capacity and a
wall blocks the view to the red carpet to stop
crowds from gathering outside the main venue.
Face masks and a health pass or a negative COVID
test are required to attend screenings, and
there will be fewer late-night parties.
"They are taking measures really seriously.
Everyone is being really careful, really
responsible. I think it's great for the industry
that things can start to come back," Cruz told
Reuters ahead of the opening ceremony.
"I am happy that it's happening. It's a
celebration of cinema but it also gives jobs to
a lot of people around the world."
Cruz stars in "Parallel Mothers", the festival's
opening film by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar.
Hollywood stars Kirsten Dunst, Timothee Chalamet,
Matt Dillon and Maggie Gyllenhaal are also among
those who have made the trip to Venice so far.
"Everybody everywhere is eager to come back, to
reopen, to restart, to release the films that
stayed on the shelf for a year and a half or
maybe two years," festival director Alberto
Barbera told Reuters.
He said most of the world premieres to be
screened at the festival were already sold out,
and promised that there would be no shortage of
celebrities - even though fans will not be able
to get anywhere near them.
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 "The red carpet will be one of
the most crowded in years because everybody is
here," he said. Titles vying for
the Golden Lion award for best film include Jane
Campion's "The Power of the Dog", with Benedict
Cumberbatch as a ranch owner who torments a
young widow played by Dunst, and Kristen
Stewart's turn as Princess Diana in "Spencer".
Also in the main line-up is Gyllenhaal with her
debut as director, of "The Lost Daughter", based
on an Elena Ferrante novel and starring Olivia
Colman and Dakota Johnson.
Ridley Scott's medieval epic "The Last Duel"
starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and Denis
Villeneuve's hotly anticipated science-fiction
tale "Dune", with Chalamet and Zendaya, will
both screen out of competition.
The festival is a showcase for Oscar contenders
as awards season approaches, and South Korean
"Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho - who presides
over the jury - said he was ready for a fight
with fellow jury members to pick the award
winners.
"As a film-maker I don't believe cinema can be
stopped so easily. COVID will pass, cinema will
continue," he said.
(Additional reporting by Hanna Rantala and Mike
Davidson; Editing by Mark Porter, Alison
Williams and Richard Chang)
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