The Venice Film Festival, one of the world"s three most prestigious cinema events, opened on Wednesday, with measures against the coronavirus in place.

Directors and actors from around the world gathered in Venice for the 77th edition of the annual festival.

This year, participants must wear face masks, and the number of viewers allowed in cinemas has been decreased in an effort to help prevent COVID-19.

At the opening ceremony, the heads of Europe’s eight major film festivals took to the stage in a show of solidarity for an industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus.

They called for support for the movie world, saying that no one can do without cinema on the big screen with an audience.