Venice adds star power to world’s oldest film fest

ROME —  The stars are sure to dazzle at this year’s Venice Film Festival after new artistic director Marco Muller unveiled a lineup Thursday that includes several Hollywood pictures in and out of competition.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks will kick off the 61st edition of the world’s oldest film festival with the new romantic comedy “Terminal,” about a foreigner stranded for nine months in New York’s JFK airport.

Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington could also hit the red carpet as their new movies screen on the Lido.

“We are bringing the greatest films of the year to Venice, which is why there are so many American films,” Muller said at a news conference in Rome, dispelling rumors he would give Venice more of an art-house focus.

“There were a lot of good European films on offer, but the American films were the kind that you just can’t get out of your head,” he said.

Among the 21 films vying for the coveted Golden Lion top prize will be Jonathan Glazer’s experimental “Birth,” starring Kidman and Lauren Bacall, as well as Todd Solondz’s “Palindromes,” with Ellen Barkin.

There will also be plenty of new talent and art-house favorites from Europe and Asia on display during the festival, which runs from Sept. 1 to Sept. 11.