With Emma Stone as a sex-mad reanimated corpse in "Poor Things" and Wes Anderson presenting his take on Roald Dahl, the Venice Film Festival was taken on some wild rides on Friday.
"Poor Things" was set to premiere on the Lido without its star to light up the red carpet, due to the ongoing Hollywood strike barring actors from publicity work.
Rumors at the festival suggest the horror-comedy, in which Stone plays a woman brought back from the dead by a mad scientist, could be an early awards frontrunner.
Its Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has established himself as one of the most imaginative and daring filmmakers of his generation.
His previous film "The Favourite", also starring Stone, won the Jury Prize in Venice in 2018 and best actress for Olivia Colman, paving the way to her Oscar triumph.
"Poor Things" is among 23 movies competing for the top prize, the Golden Lion, to be awarded on September 9 by a jury including directors Damien Chazelle, Jane Campion and last year's winner Laura Poitras.
Anderson's Dahl
Meanwhile, another indie darling, Wes Anderson, was feted in Venice with a lifetime achievement award.
He presented "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", a 40-minute film based on a short story by beloved children's author Roald Dahl.
It is one of four Dahl adaptations the whimsical director has made for Netflix featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel and Ralph Fiennes.
As always, there is a meticulous, chocolate-box feel to Anderson's film.
"It's more like a little theatrical presentation that we found a way to film," Anderson told reporters.
The director, who previously adapted Dahl's "Fantastic Mr Fox", said he was strongly against moves to alter the author's books for "sensitivity" reasons.
Asked about recent revisions to Dahl's books to remove character descriptions like "fat" and "crazy", Anderson said: "No one who is not an author should be modifying someone's book."
He added: "I understand the motivation for it, but I'm in the school where, when the piece is finished… the audience participates in it, we know it, so when it's done, it's done."
Strikes and waivers
Also premiering on Friday was "The Promised Land" starring Mads Mikkelsen, described by The Hollywood Reporter as a "gripping historical epic" about a low-born soldier seeking to better himself.
Mikkelsen was able to attend the festival for the Danish film, but Venice has lost out on several star appearances due to the actor and writer strike in Hollywood, which is primarily over pay and the potential threat of AI.
Some independent films have been given a waiver, including Michael Mann's "Ferrari" which premiered on Thursday, allowing lead actor Adam Driver to attend.
But others such as Stone and Bradley Cooper (for his Leonard Bernstein biopic "Maestro") are not coming, costing the studios valuable PR shots of their stars arriving by gondola and working the red carpet.
Still to come in Venice are new movies by Sofia Coppola ("Priscilla" about Elvis Presley's wife) and David Fincher ("The Killer" starring Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton).
There are also out-of-competition premieres for controversial directors Woody Allen ("Coup de Chance") and Roman Polanski ("The Palace").