Film prize is worth nothing, admits Venice festival chief

A liberal mix of stars and acrimony marked the launch of the Venice Film Festival yesterday.

The director of the festival, Moritz de Hadeln, sparked indignation this week when he told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that the festival's main prize, the Golden Lion, had lost its cachet. He said: "It no longer has any value and counts for nothing in the marketplace, so American distributors tell me."

The opening film of the festival, Frida, a profile of the Mexican painter and revolutionary Frida Kahlo, starring Salma Hayek, seemed an apt vehicle for the launch of a festival struggling to marry an arthouse feel with a desire to wield commercial clout. Though produced by the giant company Miramax and with a lead role rumoured to have been hotly contested by Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, the film seems more suited to arthouse cinema because of its politically charged story centred on the world of art.

Mr de Hadeln has succeeded in his aim of luring big names. Along with Hayek, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and Gwyneth Paltrow are due to show up, and Sofia Loren will return after a 20-year absence.

Many consider it miraculous that the festival is being staged at all. Mr de Hadeln, who headed the Berlin film festival for 22 years, stepped in as director just six months ago after Alberto Barbera unexpectedly resigned.

The jury for the main section is chaired this year by the Chinese actress Gong Li.

Two new prizes have been introduced. The San Marco prize will be awarded for the best film in the new Countercurrent section, and there will be an award for an "individual contribution of major significance".