Clooney political drama to open Venice festival

George Clooney's new film The Ides of March will openthe 2011 Venice Film Festival, organizers announced Wednesday.

Clooney produced, co-wrote and acted in the political drama, which follows a young, idealistic press secretary drawn into deceit and corruption while working for a presidential candidate. Canadian actor Ryan Gosling portrays the young aide, while Clooney plays the politician.

Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman co-star in the movie, based on the 2008 play Farragut North. The Ides of March will screen in competition and opens the Venice festival on Aug. 31.

Clooney, who has a villa on Italy's Lake Como, often attends the Venice Film Festival. The second film he directed, Good Night, and Good Luck, premiered at Venice in 2005 and won two awards: best screenplay and best actor for David Strathairn.

Clooney's comedy Leatherheads screened in Venice in 2008. The Ides of March is his fourth film as director.

Cronenberg's newfilm

The full slate from Venice won't be announced until June 28, but Canadian director David Cronenberg's new film, A Dangerous Method, is expected to be on the lineup.

It's been four years since Cronenberg's last film, Eastern Promises, which starred Viggo Mortensen. The American actor, who also appeared in Cronenberg's A History of Violence, has become the auteur director's favourite male lead.

In A Dangerous Method, Mortensen plays Sigmund Freud and Michael Fassbender is the other seminal figure in modern psychiatry, Carl Jung. Jung becomes involved with a troubled patient, portrayed by Keira Knightley.

Other titles purportedly to compete for Venice's Golden Lion include Roman Polanski's Carnage, Aleksandr Sokurov's Faust, Philippe Garrel's Un t brulant (A Burning Hot Summer) and Cristina Comencini's Quando la notte (When The Night).