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Venice Film Fest to See Solid Korean Presence

Hayao Miyazaki, Tsui Hark, Ang Lee, George Clooney, Park Chan-wook, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Lee Young-ae, Ji Jin-hee, Kim So-yeon: this year's Venice Film Festival will attract a stellar crowd from East and West.

The 62nd Biennale lasts for 11 days from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10 with 54 full-length films screened -- 19 in the competition, where they will vie for the Golden Lion award. The only Korean film in competition is Park Chan-wook's "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance", starting actress Lee Young-ae. Clooney is invited for "Goodnight, and Good Luck", his second film as a director. Ang Lee, the director of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Hulk", was invited for "Brokeback Mountain", and "12 Monkeys" director Terry Gilliam will be dreaming of Golden Lions with "The Brothers Grimm". The only other Asian film is Stanley Kwan's "Changhen Ge".

However, there is a large gap in that no Spanish or South American films merited a single invitation. Compared to Cannes, which drew massive coverage for the presence of some of the industry's greatest, and Berlin, which saw the "discovery" of African film, there is a sense that something is missing in Venice in 2005.

The festival opens with Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords", and will close with "Perhaps Love" by Peter Chan. Both films, apparently chosen for their appeal to the masses, star Korean actresses: Kim So-yeon in "Seven Swords" and Ji Jin-hee "Perhaps Love".

Animation giant Hayao Miyazaki will receive a Golden Lion for his lifetime achievement. This is the first time the honor, which has been given to greats like Stanley Kubrick and Federico Fellini, has been given to a director of animation. He will share the award with Italian actress Stefania Sandrelli, known to Koreans for films like "A Tale of Ham and Passion". In the short-film competition, Hong Jun-won's "Happy Birthday" is on the list of candidates.

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