The 63rd Venice International Film Festival opened Wednesday with a red-carpet gala, but the occasion was overshadowed by a sharp public dispute between Venice and a newly launched competing festival set to debut in Rome the following month.
Venice festival director Marco Mueller sparked the row by dismissing the Rome event as a destination for films already rejected by both Venice and Cannes. Rome organizers Giorgio Gosetti and Mario Sesti fired back, calling his remarks an offense to cinema and to the filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, who had chosen Rome for their work.
Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni defended his city's festival, noting it was financed entirely through private funds, raising 12 million euros without state support. Venice, by contrast, depends on government funding for more than half of its 8.5 million euro annual budget.
Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli urged both sides to stand down, arguing the two events were complementary and could together strengthen Italy's standing in world cinema. He conceded, however, that scheduling them just one month apart was a genuine problem.
The dispute flared as Brian De Palma's film adaptation of James Ellroy's novel "The Black Dahlia" prepared to open the Venice festival on Wednesday evening.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in August 2006, in its own words.