Venice film festival lauds Spielberg

As the Venice Film Festival gets underway today, organisers are hitching their stars to director Steven Spielberg – just the man, they hope, to inspire Hollywood moguls and prize-hunting artists alike during 11 days of glitz and film magic.

The opening night’s gala screening is Spielberg’s The Terminal, in which Eastern European traveller played by Tom Hanks has the lousy luck to get stuck in an airport – but the good fortune to find starlet Catherine Zeta-Jones on the premises.