Star power comes to Venice

August 27, 2008 Venice regulars Brad Pitt and George Clooney helped assure the 65th annual Venice Film Festival got under way with flashbulbs popping Wednesday, taking to the red carpet soon after Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport officially opened the event to an enthusiastic and packed Sala Grande. Rappoport -- well known in Italy for her Donatello-nominated role in Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Unknown" -- was master of ceremonies at the gala opening ceremony that opened the world's oldest film festival. Earlier in the day, the Pitt and Clooney show provided some laughs at the "Reading" presser, as the two stars traded gibes about their all-too-public personal lives.

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