Based on James Ellroy's acclaimed novel set in the 1940s, it follows two LA detectives leading a manhunt for the killer of a fledgling actress. Boasting an A-list cast including Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank, The Black Dahlia will be in competition with twenty other films for the festival's coveted Golden Lion award.

Another favourite for the top prize is Allen Coulter's Hollywoodland, starring Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck and Bob Hoskins. It explores one of Hollywood's most infamous real-life mysteries, the suspicious death of the actor George Reeves, who played Superman in the original 1950s TV series.

Two science-fiction films are also in competition. Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, a dystopian drama based on the novel by PD James and starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen, is another favourite, as is Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, starring the director's fiancée Rachel Weisz, about a man's struggle over a millennium to save the woman he loves.

Fresh from her Emmys' success playing Elizabeth I, Helen Mirren will be attending the festival as her performance as Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' film The Queen, will also be shown in competition.

This is the first time in the festival's history that all 21 films vying for the top award will premiere during the event.

The 63rd International Venice Film Festival will run until September 9.

For more information, visit http://www.labiennale.org/it/cinema/

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