The festival is now in its 58th year

Kidman is at the festival to promote two of her movies, the romantic drama Birthday Girl and thriller The Others.

The Others stars Kidman but is produced by her ex-husband Tom Cruise. The director is Spain's Alejandro Amenabar.

Cruise and Kidman caused a media scrum when they turned up separately at the film's Los Angeles premi�re earlier this month.

The paparazzi could be in for another field day if Cruise turns up in Venice.

Absence

The 58th Venice Film Festival is set to show a total of 41 films in competition for the top Golden Lion Award.

Among the other stars expected for the festival - which is older than Berlin or Cannes - are Danny DeVito, Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman.

AI: Spielberg will not be in town to promote the movie

American director Steven Spielberg, however, will not be attending - much to the disappointment of the event's organisers.

Festival director Alberto Barbera said on Wednesday that he deeply regretted Spielberg's absence.

"This is no doubt the most painful absence, even if we understand that he has other priorities. He can obviously choose where to go."

Spielberg's latest film is the much talked about science fiction film AI: Artificial Intelligence.

Spielberg took the project over from legendary director Stanley Kubrick when he died.

It stars Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law and William Hurt will be screened outside competition on 5 September.

Dominance

British actor Joseph Fiennes, who stars in the festival's opening movie Dust, will not be attending the festival either.

On Tuesday, Barbera said he wanted to lead the fight the against "Hollywood imperialism".

But added that the festival still relied on big stars, glitz and glamour to attract crowds.

Some of the stars of Dust line up for the cameras in Venice

He said countries including France were reacting against America's dominance of the movie industry.

"In the past season, French films got more attention from the public than American films."

This year's festival will feature two competitions for the first time - the Venice 58 for international full-length films and the New Cinema of the Present category.

In the Venice 58, The Others will compete alongside Bully by Kids director Larry Clark and The Navigators directed by Ken Loach.

The jury that will select the winner of the Golden Lion on 8 September will be headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti whose latest film La Stanza del Figlio won the Cannes Festival's Palme d'Or in May.

In the New Cinema of the Present category, 21 films will compete for the new Lion of the Year award.

Organisers say the new category will include fringe films that run counter to current genres, providing innovation and creative originality.

Meanwhile the Venice 58 category will see the best and most radical of art films alongside the most original and innovative spectacular movies.

The 20 films in the international competition come from Spain, Italy, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Netherlands, India, Romania, Brazil and the United States.

French film-maker Eric Rohmer will be awarded the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award.