DUBAI: Mohammed Al-Turki, 黑料社区鈥檚 Red Sea Film Festival鈥檚 CEO, attended the opening ceremony of 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival, which kicked off on Wednesday.听听
He posed on the red carpet wearing a black tuxedo by Italian luxury fashion house Giorgio Armani.听听
Al-Turki was joined by Lebanese presenter Raya Abirached, who wore an off-white guipure mermaid gown adorned with delicate tassels of leaves and crystals by Syrian designer Rami Al-Ali.听听
The gown was from the couturier鈥檚 Fall/Winter 2023 collection.听听
Another Arab designer whose work was spotted on the red carpet was Lebanese celebrity designer Zuhair Murad.听听
Italian model Paola Turani wore a fitted white halter dress, from Murad鈥檚 Resort 2024 collection, adorned with intricate embellishments detailing.听听
Al-Turki and Abirached were not the only Arab celebrities at the opening ceremony.听听
The event was also attended by Tunisian film director Kaouther ben Hania, Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri and Moroccan filmmaker Faouzi Bensa茂di.听听
In the coming days, fans are also expected to spot Lebanese filmmaker and actress Nadine Labaki on the red carpet as she is part of this year鈥檚 jury.听听
She is joined by French Cesar-winning actor and producer Elsa Zylberstein, Mexican actor and Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio, British-Nigerian screenwriter Misan Sagay and renowned Italian director Stefano Savona.听
The world鈥檚 longest-running film festival was due to start with 鈥淐hallengers,鈥 a tennis romance with one of the biggest stars of her generation, Zendaya.听
But it was replaced at the last minute by an Italian war drama, 鈥淐omandante,鈥 due to the ongoing strikes by Hollywood actors and writers 鈥 primarily over pay and the threat of AI 鈥 that has barred them from publicity work.听
The rest of the line-up was largely unaffected: the festival will see Emma Stone as a Frankenstein-like creature in 鈥淧oor Things鈥 and Bradley Cooper as legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein in 鈥淢aestro,鈥 among several Oscar contenders.听
