(On The Milky Road), Francois Ozon (Frantz) and Wim Wenders (The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez) are the other big European filmmakers in the running for Venice's top prize, the Golden Lion. Wenders has teamed up again with the singer-songwriter Nick Cave who has scored several of his films but this time with the Australian in front of the camera. The punk legend also features in Andrew Dominik's 3D film "Once More With Feeling" Only three Italian films have made the cut, including the documentary Spira Mirabilis by Massimo d'Anolfi and Martina Parenti. Last year Venice premiered the Hollywood film Spotlight, which went on to lift the best-film Oscar, and the festival on the city's beachfront Lido has become a launch pad for multiple award winners. But despite the strong studio presence the Golden Lion went to From Afar by the unknown first-time Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas. AFP