The Venice festival (Aug 29 - Sept 8) will once again be home to an amfAR spectacular raising money for AIDS research.

Stars expected to attend include Shirley Bassey, Milla Jovovich and the evening's host Lauren Bacall. It will be co-chaired by Paolo Bulgari, Lady Helen Taylor, Venice festival director Moritz de Hadeln, Francesca Bortolotto Possati, Suzanne S Syz, La Contessa Arrivabene Velenti Gonzaga, and Mathilde Krim, amfAR's co-founder and chairman.

The Bulgari-sponsored bash will take place on Wednesday Sept 4 at the Arsenale, where amfAR last year raised some $700,000. The evening will include cocktails, a sumptuous gourmet dinner, and live and silent auctions of unique luxury items.

"On behalf of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, I express profound gratitude to the sponsors of Cinema Against AIDS Venice and to the film industry as a whole for their exemplary support of amfAR's mission," said Krim.