- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
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- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
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- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
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Gender identity gets starring role at Venice Film Festival
Transgender issues have taken centre stage at the Venice Film Festival this year, with Italian director Emanuele Crialese even using the platform to reveal he was born a woman as he presented his new film starring Penelope Cruz.
The revelation by Crialese came at a press conference for his new film, "L'Immensita", which is inspired by his difficult adolescence.
"I am never going to be like any other man... I was born biologically a woman," Crialese said.
He added that, despite his transition, there was still a "huge part of my character that is female".
In the film, Cruz's character attempts to protect her teenage daughter, who identifies as a boy, in a bourgeois household dominated by an abusive, unfaithful husband.
It is not alone at this year's festival in embracing artists who reject traditional gender roles or tackle issues around sexual identity.
Another film in the main competition, "Monica" by Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, stars a transgender actress in the leading role -- a first in 79 editions of the festival.
Trace Lysette, known for her role in Amazon Prime series "Transparent", plays a transgender woman who returns to Ohio after a long absence to care for her dying mother.
"It's very rare that you see a script where there's a trans character at the centre and the movie is told through her lens," Lysette told reporters.
"Usually trans characters are more a sidebar vehicle for someone else's story."
Besides exploring the title character's emotional and psychological world, the movie reflects on "the precarious nature of each of our identities when faced with the need to survive and transform", said Pallaoro.
- Struggling for decades -
Themes of gender identity are also the subject of various documentaries in the festival.
In "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed", director Laura Poitras centres on the art and activism of US photographer Nan Goldin, whose early work focused on gay culture and volatile male-female relationships.
One of the breakout performances has been Quintessa Swindell, a non-binary actor, who stars alongside Sigourney Weaver and Joel Edgerton in "Master Gardener", playing out of competition.
Meanwhile, a documentary by French director Sebastien Lifshitz, "Casa Susanna", recounts the story of a clandestine community of cross-dressers in conservative America of the 1950s and 1960s, relying on archival footage and surviving members of this "pre-queer" history.
"It's been a struggle for decades to try to break out of the archetypes," Lifshitz told AFP.
Another French director, Florent Gouelou, presented "Three Nights a Week", a film he described as "a declaration of love" to the art form of drag.
In the film, Baptiste, a man in a relationship with a woman, discovers the Parisian world of drag queens and falls in love with one of them, Cookie.
"Through the character of Baptiste you see my own fascination and through the character of Cookie, you see my own experience as a drag queen," said Gouelou.
T.Ward--AMWN