US FILMMAKER Julian Schnabel, a New York Jew, tells it like it is from the Palestinian point of view in Miral – as screening at the Venice film festival got into full swing yesterday.

Raised in an ashram in the tiny Indian fishing village of Harenmahkeester, Guru Pitka (Mike Myers) leaves his beloved, cross-eyed mentor Guru Tugginmypuddha (Ben Kingsley) to establish himself as an expert in self-help and spirituality in America.

Julian Schnabel’s remarkable The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Pathé, €24.99) tells the extraordinary story of French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) who, although almost completely paralysed following a stroke — he can only move by blinking his left eyelid — refuses to accept that his condition is insurmountable.

Irish music romance 'Once', whose stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have a best-song Oscar nomination, was named Best Foreign Film at the last night.

An American woman was killed today when she was run over by a bulldozer during a protest in Gaza against Israeli operations, witnesses and hospital officials said.