Meryl Streep in Venice on Thursday. (Reuters)

Venice, Sept. 2 (Reuters): Anti-globalisation protesters today vowed more disturbances at Venice’s most ambitious film festival in years to protest against Hollywood’s wealth and reach after featuring as uninvited guests at its gala opening.

Dozens of activists demonstrated on the red carpet of the festival’s main Art Deco cinema late yesterday to complain about big-budget US blockbusters and high ticket prices, parking a car decked out as a pirate ship in front of the cinema.

Hollywood high flyers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg had launched the festival earlier that day after organisers decided to reinvent the event with a star-studded cast, but the anti-capitalists were not impressed. “This should be an event open equally to everyone, not an ostentatious show of wealth and Hollywood power,” Luca Casarini, one of the “no-global” organisers, said. “There are going to be more disturbances, we want our voice heard.”

A bomb threat also forced officials to briefly close down the dock where stars arrive in taxi boats. It proved to be a false alarm but set tensions rising at a festival where security — including underwater surveillance — has been beefed up.

Twenty-one movies are going head-to-head for the prestigious Golden Lion prize, which can mean fame and international distribution for lesser-known titles and a crucial nod of recognition ahead of the Academy Awards for American films.

The main competition for the Golden Lion gets under way today with the story of a pizza delivery boy in the slums of Athens and the intimate portrayal of a failed relationship.

After the burst of Hollywood glitz at inaugural night, Venice was focusing on the international films that have long been its mainstay — starting with a festival favourite, French director Francois Ozon, and Greece’s Nikos Panayotopoulos. The race got off to an uneven start, however, with warm applause for Ozon’s 5x2 and jeering for Panayotopoulos’ Delivery at preview screenings for the press.

5x2 looks at five different stages in a relationship. Told backwards, it starts with a couple’s divorce.

The slow-moving Delivery follows a pizza delivery boy around the gritty underbelly of Athens, introducing the audience to immigrants, prostitutes and poverty.

Among the bigger titles in competition are Jonathon Glazer’s Birth, starring Nicole Kidman, and Vanity Fair, a “Bollywood” take on the classic novel by director Mira Nair.