The Venice Film Festival (Aug 31-Sept 10) will host the worldpremiere of Lasse Hallstrom's Casanova, which stars Heath Ledger andSienna Miller.

"After at least a 30-year interval, Casanovaa is thefirst film made by a US studio to have been entirely shot in Italy, and for themost part in Venice," said festival chief Marco Mueller.

He explained that he had been "courting the film's producerssince last year" for the film to premiere on the Lido.

The Casanova gala event will be held on September 3.

Meanwhile, Venice is once again shaping up as a prospectiveshowcase of A-list talent. While many complained about the lack of stars inCannes, the Lido this year is expected to premiere Abel Ferrara's Marywith Juliette Binoche.

Lido possibilities also include Terry Gilliam's TheBrothers Grimm, James Ivory's The White Countess, FernandoMereilles' The Constant Gardener, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain,John Madden's Proof, Pride And Prejudice, Scott McGehee and DavidSiegel's Bee Season, and Isabel Coixet's The Secret Life of Words.

If those films areconfirmed, stars in attendance could include Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Gere,Juliette Binoche (who stars in Bee Season as well as Mary), RalphFiennes, Matt Damon, Keira Knightley and Jake Gyllenhaal - while Heath Ledgercould be on the Lido with three films: Casanova, Brokeback Mountain and TheBrothers Grimm.

Other films which could screen on the Lido include ParkChan-wook's Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Philippe Garrel's Les AmantsReguliers, and Patrice Chereau's Gabrielle.

On the Italian front, films receiving their premiere couldinclude Michele Placido's Romanzo Criminale with Kim Rossi Stuart,Jasmine Trinca and Stefano Accorsi, and Marco Bellocchio's Il Regista diMatrimoni with Sergio Castellitto.

Venice will open with the out-of-competition worldpremiere of Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark's Seven Swords.

The festival will announce its full line-up on July 28.