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 British films by directors Kenneth Branagh, Ken Loach and Peter Greenaway are in competition for the top prize at this year's Venice Film Festival.
British and US films dominate this year's selection, with Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, previously announced as the opening film in competition for the Golden Lion.
Branagh's movie, the remake of the classic film Sleuth, stars fellow Alfie actors Jude Law and Michael Caine. Caine was also in the original film, opposite Laurence Olivier.
In the new movie, Caine takes Olivier's role while Law, who is also co-producing the remake, plays Caine's original character. The film's screenplay was written by Harold Pinter, adapted from a play by Anthony Shaffer.
Greenaway's film Nightwatching, about Rembrandt's most famous painting Night Watch, features The Office star Martin Freeman as the painter. The film is a British co-production with Poland, Canada and the Netherlands.
Loach's movie It's a Free World, which looks at illegal employment in Britain, is a UK co-production with Italy, Germany and Spain.
Atonement, a UK-US co-production, also stars Vanessa Redgrave and James McAvoy alongside Knightley. The adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel is only the second film from young director Joe Wright, 35, whose first was Pride and Prejudice.
Other films in competition include titles by Wes Anderson, Paul Haggis, Brian De Palma and Ang Lee. Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett will feature in a film about Bob Dylan, while Charlize Theron, George Clooney and Brad Pitt will star in other movies to open in Venice.
Outside of the competition, Woody Allen's latest flick Cassandra's Dream, a UK-US co-production starring heart-throbs Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, will also be shown. And Sean Bean and Michelle Yeoh star in Far North, a UK-French co-production, out of competition.
British entries in the short film competition include Paddy Considine's Dog Altogether and Forever Friends by Marcal Fores. And two small British films, Exodus, and Cochochi, are being shown in a section on new trends in cinema.
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