US actors Brad Pitt, left, and George Clooney pose before screening of 'Burn After Reading' in Venice, 27 Aug 2008

The world's oldest running film festival opened Wednesday in the Italian coastal city of Venice with a screening of the Coen brothers film Burn After Reading.

The latest quirky film by the Academy Award winning brothers features Brad Pitt and George Clooney, as well as Academy Award winning actors Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton.

While the Coen brothers film in not in the competition, 21 other films are in the running for the coveted Golden Lion top prize at the 65th Venice Film Festival.

Among this year's offerings will be French director Barbet Schroeder's The Beast in the Shadow, a thriller set in Japan, and Ethiopian director Haile Gerima's Teza about an Ethiopian ex-patriot who returns to his native village at age 60.

Filmmakers from around the world, including from Algeria, Brazil, China, Iran, Spain and Portugal have submitted their works for the competition.

This year's festival is dedicated to Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine who died last month at the age of 82.  His film Chaos was shown at last year's festival.