AceShowbiz -

As the 2006 Venice Film Festival is set to unravel less than two months, the line-up of films to be screened at this world's oldest cinema contest has been revealed on Thursday, July 27 by the organizers of the event. What comes as a surprise is that for the first time at the festival, all films competing for the top Golden Lion award will make their world premiere there.

Concerning this new move, the event's artistic director, Marco Mueller, has given his comment, saying it to be both a source of pride and a great risk. "The risk of failure is high because all these films are unknown quantities," so he commented. "But it also shows that producers realize that the Venice festival can be a useful way to introduce a certain kind of film. It is a vote of confidence in this event."

Presenting the 21 titles that will have their world premieres in competition, the festival has included five U.S films in the list, namely "The Fountain", "The Black Dahlia", "Bobby, "Hollywoodland", and "Children of Men." In the meantime, Italy submit 3 films in the competition with two each from France and Japan, and one from the U.K.

For the non-competitive section, the event will screen "World Trade Center", "The Magic Flute", "Belle toujours", "The Wicker Man", "Inland Empire", and "The Hottest State" among others. The festival itself is scheduled to run from August 30 up to September 9. For complete list of movies participating at the event and the screening schedule please go to the official site of Venice Film Festival at www.labiennale.org/en/cinema.