The Venice Film Festival celebrates its 80th edition next week, but the Hollywood strike means many stars could be missing, leaving controversial directors such as Roman Polanski and Woody Allen in the spotlight.
The festival, which begins on Wednesday, has become a major launchpad for Oscar campaigns, helped by glamorous shots of stars arriving from the gondola.
But the ongoing Hollywood actors and writers strike, the industry’s biggest strike in more than 60 years, means most are banned from promotional work.
Also missing from their Venice premiere will be Emma Stone, who plays the Frankenstein-like creature in “Poor Things,” and Bradley Cooper, who directed and starred in “Maestro,” about famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein.