Los Angeles, Aug 31 (IANS): Actress Zendaya has decided to skip Venice Film Festival due to the Hollywood strikes.

The actress was initially slated to go to the film festival to promote Luca Guadagnino’s film ‘Challengers’, which was also the movie that was supposed to open the 80th annual Venice Film Festival.

Zendaya has been a supporter of the ongoing Hollywood strikes, and given her standing in Hollywood, it would have been nearly impossible for the ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ actress to make it.

So instead, Venice kicked off the festival with the Italian World War II drama film ‘Comandante’, directed by Italian director Edoardo De Angelis, reports Variety.

The movie is mostly set on a submarine, and ended up landing a brief 90-second standing ovation as actor Pierfrancesco Favino — who plays naval officer Salvatore Todaro — took a bow.

Indeed, due to the Hollywood strikes there was a severe lack of star power which was strongly felt at the Venice opening night. The size of the crowds that lined up outside the Sala Grande Theatre was also very modest.

The biggest cheers went to Damien Chazelle, who is presiding over the Venice jury, with director Jane Campion who won Oscar in 2021 for her film ‘Power of the Dog’ is another jury member. She was spotted wading into the crowds to sign autographs and take selfies.

Things were further complicated by the Hollywood strikes and the support given by the jurors and writers at the Venice Film Festival, which only encouraged more stars to skip the festival.

The ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have also been supported by Damien Chazelle who is currently presiding over the proceedings of the festival.