Parties are banned, temperature checks are compulsory and the few A-list celebrities making the trip will be swabbed, but the world’s oldest film festival is aiming to relaunch the cinema industry in style.

While the general public was absent from the opening ceremony this year, stars such as Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton graced the red carpet on Wednesday, sporting face masks with their designer gowns and show-stopping jewels. 

“We want to show it can be done, to be a laboratory for other festivals,” Alberto Barbera, its ­director, said.

“Cinema must restart if it is to survive; streaming kept us alive during lockdown but we cannot do without cinema.

“Venice will be a sign of optimism and an invitation to not give in to fear.”

Safety measures will be tight throughout the festival, with every other seat in viewing rooms left empty while masks are to be worn at all times.

Temperatures will be monitored for all guests, and anyone with a body temperature above 37.5°C will be denied entry.

All guests from outside Europe must be swabbed before flying and again on arrival, and a third time if they stay longer than five days in Venice.

Organised in July when Italy’s outbreak was in retreat, the 10-day festival arrives as cases are rising again.

Luca Zaia, governor of the Veneto region, said: “We are getting back to normality without lowering our guard.”

This year’s jury is presided by Australian actor Cate Blanchett.

Austrian director Veronika Franz, British director Joanna Hogg, Italian writer Nicola Lagioia, German director Christian Petzold and French actress Ludivine Sagnier form part of the jury members.

American actor Matt Dillon completes the jury, replacing Romanian director Cristi Puiu due to “unexpected difficulties” announced last week.

The line-up includes films from 50 different countries.

Eight out of the eighteen films selected to compete were directed by women this year, compared to only two in 2019, and one in 2018.

Life Achievement Golden Lions will be awarded to Hong-Kong actor and director Ann Hui and British actor Tilda Swinton.

This edition of the festival has been lauded for being more gender inclusive and diverse than previous editions.

Last year’s festival opened under controversy after the inclusion in the lineup of French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States after his 1977 conviction of rape of a 13-year-old girl.

There were also only two female directors in the selection.

In both 2018 and 2017, only one female director was represented.

The Venice Film Festival will run until September 12, 2020.