From masked, walled-off red carpet premieres to more female directors than ever, Eve Jackson takes us to Venice with film critic Emma Jones to bring us the highlights from the 77th Venice Film Festival, including interviews with the team behind "Pieces of a Woman", "The Duke" and "I am Greta".

Venice is widely considered to be the centre of European art and architecture. But after six months of Covid-19, including three months of lockdown that crushed the tourism industry, Eve Jackson visits the city to find out how it's changed.

The Italian government has given the go-ahead for cruise liners to be banned from the area close to Venice's city center. The issue has been an ongoing one, and the large vessels were banned once before.

The Italian government has announced a ban on giant cruise ships entering the centre of Venice. Accused of being dangerous, polluting and unsightly, the vessels will soon have to dock at a nearby port on the mainland. Italian ministers said the decision was made to "protect a historical and cultural heritage not only of Italy but of the whole world". Although the move has been welcomed by most Venice residents, hoteliers and shop owners are nevertheless worried about the impact it may have on the local economy, already hit hard by Covid-19. Our correspondents report.

Before the pandemic, the Italian city of Venice was overrun with tourists and was looking for ways to restrict numbers. Now that Italy’s lockdown restrictions are easing, the city is looking forward to the much-needed tourist revenue.

Venice Beach in California: synonymous with sun, surf, palm trees and, now, homeless people. As many as 200 tents inhabited by them line the oceanfront in this Los Angeles-area town that for decades has been a lure for surfers and tourists.

The restriction will come into effect at the beginning of August, the Italian government has confirmed. Campaigners say the liners cause damage to Venice's ecosystem.

The historic town in northern Ethiopia is famous for its 12th-century rock-hewn churches. The US has urged for rebels to "protect this cultural heritage" and to end the violence.

From the Venice Film Festival, critic Emma Jones speaks to Eve Jackson about the event’s most anticipated movies, including Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in "Spencer" and Pedro Almodovar's "Parallel Mothers", starring Penelope Cruz. In the studio, critic Lisa Nesselson tells us about two new movies out in French cinemas: "France" with Léa Seydoux and the erotic and mysterious Japanese film "Drive My Car".

Darlings of Spanish cinema, Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz, marked the opening of the 78th Venice Film Festival, which guarantees, a shower of stars on the red carpet despite the pandemic.

She's called herself a "caretaker of memory". Zineb Sedira is as much an artist as she is a researcher, historian and filmmaker. The Franco-Algerian artist is representing France at the 59th Venice Biennale of contemporary art in April. She joins us in the studio to talk about the influence of Algerian activist cinema on her work. We also discuss how the war in Ukraine has jeopardised Pavlo Makov's participation in the Biennale, and she weighs in on the decision of Russian artists to boycott their own, state-sponsored pavilion.

She's called herself a "caretaker of memory". Zineb Sedira is as much an artist as she is a researcher, historian and filmmaker. The Franco-Algerian artist is representing France at the 59th Venice Biennale of contemporary art in April. She joins us in the studio to talk about the influence of Algerian activist cinema on her work. We also discuss how the war in Ukraine has jeopardised Pavlo Makov's participation in the Biennale, and she weighs in on the decision of Russian artists to boycott their own, state-sponsored pavilion.