“Mother”, a film depicting Mother Teresa as a sometimes ruthless figure struggling to reconcile her views on motherhood and abortion, opened the secondary Orizzonti section.

Eyes were set to quickly turn to Hollywood’s favourite leading man, Clooney, who stepped off a water taxi in Venice with his wife Amal on Tuesday.

On Thursday, he will be seen in the premiere of Netflix-produced comedy “Jay Kelly”, directed by Noah Baumbach, in which he plays a top Hollywood actor with an identity crisis.

On the same night is the premiere of sci-fi comedy “Bugonia” from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, which stars Emma Stone as a pharmaceutical executive kidnapped by people who mistake her for an alien.

Roberts, meanwhile, will appear at Venice for the first time on Friday in the out-of-competition cancel-culture drama “After the Hunt”, from Italy’s Luca Guadagnino.

Winners of the festival’s prestigious Golden Bear top prize often go on to Oscar glory, such as “Nomadland” or “Joker” in previous years.