Tom Ford has branded as “disgusting” the ban on gay marriage in parts of the United States and elsewhere in the world.

The designer, who is openly gay, used a Venice press conference for his feature film debut “A Single Man” starring Colin Firth to criticize decisions like that in California in November banning same-sex marriage. He did, however, add that his movie, which is in competition at the Venice film festival was not about being gay at all, but about the human condition in general.

“It is, I have to say, quite disgusting that in America and in other countries you cannot have a civil union or something equivalent to marriage,” said the 48-year-old.

“I have someone I’ve lived together with for 23 years. Recently he was in hospital for something. I had to carry papers on me at all times that he had signed saying that I could visit him in his room and make medical decisions for him if anything happened. Our taxes, by the way: if I died tomorrow my estate would be completely taxed and then the remainder go to him whereas if we were a couple his life wouldn’t have to change and my entire estate would move to him. There are things that are wrong with our legal systems in a lot of countries.”

The biggest star at this year’s Venice film festival has arguably been Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Sure, George Clooney and Matt Damon have got the crowds going and can cause a minor media scrum with little effort, but Chavez and his large entourage of aides and guards is another matter altogether.

In town for the world premiere of Oliver Stone’s documentary “South of the Border”, Chavez looked the part on the red carpet and giving interviews at a swanky hotel on the Lido waterfront. Spare a thought for the handful of reporters given a coveted slot with the leader, though. We were originally down to speak to Chavez and Stone at around 5:30 p.m., but, after a series of false alarms, we were moved to a different venue and eventually ended up speaking to them well after 10 p.m.

At one point guests at a party at the plush “Des Bains” hotel (scene of the Visconti classic Death in Venice) were not allowed into the building because of Chavez’s security, but the problem was quickly resolved.

Chavez, looking every bit the movie star, was all smiles and charm, shaking hands with onlookers and reporters who wanted to meet him. Little wonder he looked happy — he will presumably be delighted with Stone’s overwhelmingly positive portrait.

Seeing reporters humiliate themselves in front of major Hollywood stars is nothing new at film festivals around the world. The appearance of an A-lister, male or female, tends to bring out the worst in journalists who variously express their undying love or ask for hands in marriage. Usually the star in question laughs off the comments, and tries to turn the conversation back to the film he or she is in town to promote.

Today’s press conference involving George Clooney and Ewan McGregor, who star together in the comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats” was more embarrassing than usual, however. After tactfully avoiding a question about his sexuality, Clooney then looked on while a man, announcing he was gay, proceeded to take of his shirt and trousers while declaring his love for the actor and asking him for a kiss. To make matters worse, he had not even seen the film.

Clooney’s response? “There’s a little ambulance on its way.”

Todd Solondz has uttered the “f-word” in Venice. No, not that one … ”Fascist”. Asked at a press conference for his new movie “Life During Wartime” whether he could give an opinion about the current political situation in Italy, he replied:

“I’m smart enough to know that I know so little and I would be very foolish, given whatever I know, to have an opinion in front of you guys. I just hope things work out nicely here. It’s lovely in this wonderful fascist building to take pleasure in this conversation.”

The building he was referring to was the Casino, a Fascist-era structure dating back to near the beginning of the world’s oldest film festival in 1932. Let’s not forget that two years later the Mussolini Cup was introduced at the festival for best foreign and best Italian films. Of course, all that has changed now. Although, at least for Solondz, the past is not forgotten.

We’re off.

After weeks of planning, the Venice film festival finally launched today with a lengthy, sentimental Italian entry as the opening film, “Baaria.” It is the first home-made movie to start the annual festival in around 20 years, and, if the budget is anything to go by, it should do well. The movie, which is more than two-and-a-half hours long, cost a whopping 25 million euros to make.

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore (of Oscar-winning “Cinema Paradiso” fame), “Baaria” is set in Sicily and spans the 1930s to the 1980s. It tells the story of Sicily, and more broadly of Europe as a whole, through three generations of the same family.

Critics are divided. One I spoke to hated it, another I have just read liked it. Venice could do with an Italian hit, after so many have failed to impress in recent years.

I’ve just come out of a screening of “The Road”, starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron, in an interpretation of Cormac McCarthy’s grim novel about a man and his son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The father-son relationship at its heart is tough to watch for a dad of two young boys like me, and it’s not what I would call an easy watch. But then the acclaimed book was not an easy read either. I’ll be interested to see what the critics say about the movie, and how Mortensen found the shooting when he speaks to us in an interview.

If we are honest, most of us would admit that we derive a certain pleasure from seeing someone famous fall from their perch, be it with a critical flop, a personal problem or a bout of odd behaviour in public.

How refreshing, then, to see the world-weary entertainment press genuinely rejoicing in Mickey Rourke’s comeback in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler”, which won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice festival over the weekend. There were no snide asides among reporters as we waited in a hotel lounge by the Adriatic Sea to interview the 51-year-old. Noone complained about where they would rather be or how their head was still reeling from the night before (it was mid-morning).

No, instead there was broad agreement that Rourke had pulled it off. For most of the last 15 years the actor and former boxer has been a peripheral figure, a Hollywood outcast with a reputation for bad behaviour on set and off it. Now he is being universally lauded for an honest and touching performance as a washed up wrestler whose personal problems and professional decline poignantly reflect Rourke’s own life.

And to cap it all, he gave candid answers, with the odd expletive thrown in, suggesting that for the first time in a while he is happy where he is. He told us he believed it was the best film he’d ever made, and indicated that, as a team player from now on, there is plenty more to come.

Barack Obama won yet more celebrity endorsements at the Venice film festival this year, although whether he would welcome them or not is a different matter.

From the very first press conference, stars from Hollywood who came to the canal city to promote their movies voiced support for the Democratic presidential candidate, although in the case of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, they were careful not to steal too much of the political limelight from Obama.

Presumably they were aware that Obama has come under fire from Republican rival John McCain for being a “celebrity” candidate, in other words a man of style over substance.

Oscar-winning Jonathan Demme, who brought “Rachel Getting Married” to the Lido, said his multi-racial drama reflected the America he loved — one where Obama could be a presidential contender.

And Kathryn Bigelow, director of Iraq war feature “The Hurt Locker“, entered the fray towards the end of the 11-day festival, which winds up on Saturday.

“I hope and pray that that’s imminent,” she said, when asked if she supported the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. “I think with a change of administration it’s possible. But only one man is capable of doing that and that’s Mr. Barack Obama.”

Thursday was Valentino day at the Venice film festival, where “Valentino: The Last Emperor” had a glittering evening premiere at the Teatro La Fenice opera house. The Italian designer, who retired in January this year after nearly half a century in the business, gave the festival a much-needed boost on a day when glamour was otherwise in short supply. Liz Hurley and Eva Herzigova showed up for the screening, where long, flowing dresses and diamonds the size of marbles were in abundance.

The great man, wearing a white tuxedo and his locks typically well-coiffed, shared a few moments with us on his way into the screening.

“I left (the fashion business) with joy, I left because I knew that I wanted to live a little my life and I did a lot in fashion, so now I think about myself,” he said, speaking in heavily accented English.

The film is a fly-on-the-wall look at the couturier, and it features several amusing scenes starring his six pug dogs. One clip shows one of the pampered canines having its teeth brushed and a squirt of breath freshener added for good measure, while another shows a dog leaving a fashion shoot to relieve itself near the photographer.