MUMBAI: The Venice film festival opens today with Black Swan starring Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer in New York.

Festival director Marco Mueller has opted for youth in his choice of directors of the twenty three competition films and hopes that the presence of Hollywood mavericks could make up for the expected shortage of A-list celebrities this year.

Jury president Quentin Tarantino, who will decide as to who walks away with the coveted Golden Lion award at the closing ceremony on 11 September said that his time on the picturesque island would be more work than play.

Venice, the world‘s oldest film festival and one of its most prestigious, has long been looking over its shoulder at Canadian rival Toronto, with which it overlaps and which is seen as cheaper and more business-focused than the Italian event.