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00:00 The 80th Venice Film Festival got underway on Wednesday and Hollywood was conspicuous
00:05 by its absence.
00:06 The writers and actors' strike has kept studio stars away from the festival, one of the world's
00:11 big three, along with Cannes and Berlin.
00:14 There are five American films in competition, but actors will not be promoting them.
00:18 At the opening ceremony, the festival paid tribute to the striking artists.
00:25 An affectionate greeting of solidarity to those who are not here with us because they're
00:30 engaged in defending the intellectual and economic value of their work.
00:38 Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle is the president of this year's jury.
00:43 At the opening press conference, he explained what was at stake in the Hollywood strike
00:47 and he had a special mention for all involved, many of whom are far from the spotlight.
00:51 So yeah, I think we're just here to kind of acknowledge that that struggle is going on
00:56 and as a result, a lot of people who otherwise I think would have loved to be here during
01:01 this festival are not able to be here.
01:04 And it's a difficult time obviously in Hollywood, especially for, you know, working writers,
01:10 actors, but also crew, everyone who's affected by the standstill.
01:15 It was up to stars from elsewhere in the world to provide the glamour on the red carpet,
01:20 including the cast of the opening film, the Italian World War II drama Comandante.
01:27 With or without the big Hollywood names, the festival is set to delight cinephiles from
01:31 the whole world over the next 10 days.
01:34 (chainsaw buzzing)