77th Venice Int'l Film Festival announces line-up

The organizers of the 77th Venice International Film Festival on Tuesday announced the line-up of the films to screen in and out of competition this year.

The 77th edition of the world's oldest film festival runs from Sept 2-12 under the leadership of Director Alberto Barbera.

The main competition will screen 18 movies from countries including Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Russia, and the United States.

Italy will compete with four movies, including Notturno (Nocturne) by multiple award-winning director Gianfranco Rosi.

The 77th Venice Film Festival will be the first international festival to be held in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Barbera said in a statement earlier this month when he announced that "certain changes" had been introduced in this year's edition for health reasons.

Among these changes are that two outdoor arenas will be installed, the Venice Virtual Reality competition will be held online, and the Venice Classics section will run on Aug. 25-31 in the city of Bologna, Barbera said.