The winner of the coveted Golden Lion is set to be announced at the Venice film festival.
The Hurt Locker, about a bomb disposal team in Iraq starring Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes, is tipped for the top prize, which is awarded for best film.
Mickey Rourke and Anne Hathaway are also the favourites to take home the best actor and actress awards.
Awards for best screenplay, a jury prize and a Silver Lion for best director will also be given.
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Competition
Rourke also received a rapturous response to his portrayal of a has-been professional wrestler pitifully loath to throw in the towel.
The Hurt Locker faces stiff competition for the Golden Lion from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, who charmed critics and the public with his animation Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, a re-telling of The Little Mermaid fairytale.
If Miyazaki wins, it will be the fourth year in a row an Asian director has done so.
The 11-day cinema showcase has been under fire for what critics said was a generally weak selection of 21 films in the main competition.
But festival director Marco Mueller defended the films before the jury, headed by German director Wim Wenders, saying they were "the best that are out there".
(BBC)
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