George Clooney, Jennifer Lawrence and Matt Damon jostle for Oscar advantage in Venice line-up

Damon stars in two of the Lido's big films, Downsizing and Suburbicon, while Lawrence steps into horror movie territory with Darren Aronofsky's Mother!

Renowned in recent years as a key launchpad for heavyweight Oscar contenders, the 74th Venice film festival has unveiled a lineup heavy on potential award-season frontrunners, as films start to jockey for position in earnest.

Alexander Payne, Darren Aronofsky and George Clooney are some of the big-name directors whose films will receive world premieres in competition at the festival, along with indie favourites such as Andrew Haigh, Abdellatif Kechiche and Hirokazu Koreeda, and even Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.