The 63rd Venice Film Festival kicks off on August 30 at Venice Lido with the opening ceremony and the world premiere of Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia. 　

 

Hong Kong director Johnny To's Exiled and Tsai Ming Liang's Hei yanquan (also known as I Don't Want to Sleep Alone) are among 20 feature films competing for the Golden Lion. 　　

 

Other Chinese films to be screened include Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet and Jackie Chan's Rob-B-Hood. 　　

 

This year's festival has four major categories: In Competition, Out of Competition, Horizons and Corto Cortissimo.

 

Directed by Marco Müller, the festival includes 11 days of screenings until September 9. 　

 

(CRI August 30, 2006)