Venice Film Festival Begins: Will 'The Master' Be A Highlight?

Paul Thomas Anderson's latest movie, The Master looks set to be one of the highlights of this year's Venice Film Festival. As the annual movie extravaganza gets underway, anticipation is building for the There Will Be Blood director's film as it follows the lives of cult leaders in a story that bears similarities to the story of the evolution of Scientology.

The festival is under new leadership this year, with Alberto Barbera having taken over the reigns as Artistic Director. He hasn't got George Clooney in attendance and nor does he have the usual Hollywood heavyweights such as Madonna or Angelina Jolie so he's had to make do with LIV SCHRIEBER's arrival on the red carpet, along with wife Naomi Watts.

Other movies at the festival that are certain to draw a lot of attention are Harmony Korine's Spring Break, starring Selena Gomez and Spike Lee's documentary about Michael Jackson, entitled BAD 25 , which receives its premiere at Venice. All eyes are on Barbera to continue the success of the pivotal industry event and his competition line-up of 18 films has so far drawn praise from most quarters, with Jay Weissberg of Variety saying "Without question, I think Barbera has put together a strong festival in terms of programming. he festival looks very strong at the moment particularly from a critics point of view, I think we are in for a very interesting week and a half."