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Moore movie to compete at Venice

BBC News

Capitalism, the latest documentary from Fahrenheit 9/11 director Michael Moore, features in the official competition at this year's Venice Film Festival.

The film, in which Moore looks at the global economic meltdown, is one of 23 titles up for the Golden Lion award.

Others include Werner Herzog's remake of The Bad Lieutenant, starring Nicolas Cage, and Survival of the Dead, George A Romero's latest zombie thriller.

The 66th Venice International Film Festival runs from 2 to 12 September.

This year's event will see John Lasseter and his fellow Pixar directors receive a special award for their animated features.

Toy Story 3D will screen out of competition at the festival, as will a new 3D version of Toy Story 2.

Iconoclastic

US fashion designer Tom Ford also features in the competition line-up with his directorial debut, A Single Man.

Colin Firth and Julianne Moore appear in the film, alongside Nicholas Hoult from TV show Skins.

Also up for the Golden Lion is The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic bestseller starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

No British films are in contention this year, though Liverpool-born director Alex Cox does feature in the Orrizonti sidebar section.

The iconoclastic filmmaker will be premiering Repo Chick, a sequel to his 1984 cult classic Repo Man.

George Clooney, star of last year's opening film Burn After Reading, is back this year in The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Directed by regular collaborator Grant Heslov, the satirical drama will screen out of competition.

Venice is the world's oldest film festival, having been founded in 1932 in the Mussolini era.

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will chair this year's jury, which will also feature US filmmaker Joe Dante and French actress Sandrine Bonnaire.