Poverty, and the effects of the economic crash on people and society, as well as the film industry, were themes at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Pieta, an ultra-violent story of a loan shark confronted by a woman claiming to be his mother, has won the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival.

Directed by the singer, <i>WE</i> is a sympathetic portrait of star-crossed lovers Edward VII and Mrs Simpson.

<i>Faust</i> is the final instalment in Alexander Sokurov’s series on corrupting power, and won praise for conjuring up a world of squalor and chaos.

Celebrities will grace the Lido’s red carpet this week but the magic of the world’s oldest film festival is fading.

The Venice film festival has capitalism in its sights this year, with premieres of Michael Moore’s documentary on the US economic meltdown.