The 80th Venice film festival has begun with organizers putting on a brave face in the wake of a Hollywood actors' strike that will keep many A-listers off the famed red carpet. Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera insists the event has attracted one of the strongest line-ups in recent years, defying dire predictions of a mass no-show by big studio productions.

"We know that some talent will not be able to attend ... But some others will come because they are working in independent films," Barbera said.

Amid the festival glitz, jury president Damien Chazelle drew attention to the strikes which have brought much of the U.S. entertainment industry to a standstill, donning a t-shirt on the red carpet reading 'Writers Guild on Strike.' 

Chazelle told reporters: "It is a difficult time obviously in Hollywood for working actors and writers, and also for crews."

The actors and writers are striking together for the first time in 63 years, demanding curbs on the use of artificial intelligence and higher pay as streaming becomes prevalent.

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"There is a basic idea that each work of art has a value unto itself and is not just a piece of content, which is Hollywood's favorite word right now," said Chazelle, director of 'La La Land' and 'Whiplash.' "It comes down to each person being remunerated for each piece of art that is made, and how to find a way to maintain and get back that idea of art over content."

The major U.S. entertainment studios have said they are committed to reaching "an equitable agreement" to end the long-running stoppage. Writers have been on strike since May with actors off the job since July.

In the running

The strike has shut down both television and movie productions and has prevented actors from promoting big studio movies, as well as films made by streamers like Netflix. However, artistic director Barbera said that just three of the 23 films in the main competition - 'The Killer', 'Maestro' and 'Poor Things' - would be impacted by the strike, with their actors not coming to Venice.

That means the likes of Emma Stone, Michael Fassbender and Bradley Cooper, who stars in and directs 'Maestro,' will not hit the red carpet. 

New films by directors including Cooper, Yorgos Lanthimos, David Fincher, Michael Mann, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay and Ryusuke Hamaguchi will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion at the event, which runs until September 9.

Fincher directs 'The Killer', a thriller about a ruthless hitman played by Fassbender, while Cooper's 'Maestro' is about the composer Leonard Bernstein. Coppola will present 'Priscilla', based on the memoirs of Elvis Presley's wife and starring Cailee Spaeny.

Independent exception

Another eagerly anticipated biopic is 'Ferrari', directed by Mann, which features Adam Driver as the Italian carmaker Enzo Ferrari and Penelope Cruz as his wife. 'Ferrari' is an independent production not made by one of the big Hollywood studios and its cast has been given a pass by the U.S. actors' union to promote the picture.

It is not certain Driver or Cruz will show up, but among the top actors expected in Venice are Jessica Chastain, who has the lead in Michel Franco's new picture 'Memory,' and Mads Mikkelsen, the lead in Nikolaj Arcel's 'The Promised Land.'

The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. It takes place on the Venice Lido - the so-called beach of Venice -- a thin barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, which is a short boat trip from the main city of Venice. Unlike Venice itself, cars have access to the Lido.

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