Celebrities on the red carpet: Ronaldo's Georgina shone in the evening in a black dress, Adriana Lima accentuated her cleavage, but everyone was looking at Penelope Cruz

The Seventy-eighth Venice Film Festival, the world’s oldest film festival, opened on Wednesday night with the latest work from Pedro Almodovar’s opus, “Parallel Mothers,” which will compete for the Golden Lion against Jane Campion and Paolo Sorrentino.

The two-time Oscar winner in the race for the biggest award in Venice, the 71-year-old Spanish director, arrived at the Lido to present a film with Penelope Cruz in the role of one of two women to give birth in the same hospital.

The director and his muse, dressed in black, walked the red carpet laid out on the Venetian Lido by the sea. They were followed by a large number of photojournalists, but due to covid measures, there was no audience that could get close to the stars.

Other titles vying for the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture are director Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a ranch owner abusing a young widow embodied by Kirsten Dunst, and “Spencer” with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana.

Paolo Sorrentino filmed a very personal and intimate film about the loss of his parents when he was 17 years old.

During the opening ceremony, the honorary Golden Lion was awarded to Roberto Benigni, the memorable author of the film "Life is Beautiful".

“Parallel Mothers” will be vying for the top prize with about twenty films that will be judged by Bong Joon-Ho of South Korea, winner of the 2019 Palme d’Or with his movie “Parasite” for which he also won an Oscar for Best Picture the year after.

The award winners will be announced on September 11th.

The stars of the red carpet were actress Penelope Cruz, Christiano Ronaldo’s partner Georgina Rodriguez and Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima who walked in lavish outfits that accentuated their lush attributes.

By: Olivia J. - Gossip Whispers