WOODY ALLEN overcame his legendary shyness yesterday to attend the Venice Film Festival for the first time, opening the 60th Festival in a notable coup for its British-born director, Moritz de Hadeln.

“I’ve always been invited, but I’ve always made excuses. I felt I just owed it to the Italian... people to come and participate,” Allen, 67, said.

Movie buffs gave a warm welcome to the world premiere of his new film, Anything Else, raising hopes that this year’s Venice festival will be the best for several years. A record 1,591 films were submitted this year, of which 143 were chosen for screening. A total of 20 films, mainly European, will compete for the top prize, the Golden Lion.

Nicole Kidman, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones are among the stars to promote their latest films from the red carpet during the 11-day festival.

Mr de Hadeln had said that lack of funds had hampered many plans for the Mostra, as Venetians call the gathering, the world’s oldest film festival.

“I started with great enthusiasm but I have to confess a certain frustration,” he said. “Venice is a city which sinks everything.” But Allen’s arrival aboard a private jet and fast motorlaunch suggested that the festival’s reputation could be enhanced considerably, not least because many critics panned this year’s Cannes Film Festival as “the worst in living memory”.

Allen and his cast, including Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci and Danny DeVito, were to tread the red carpet for a gala screening on the Lido last night. In his new movie, Allen leaves the leading male role to Biggs, who plays Jerry Falk, an aspiring comedy writer madly in love with neurotic Amanda, played by Ricci.

Amanda falls for Jerry, but, in an Allenesque twist, soon discovers that she can only have sex with other men.

Ricci said: “She’s really the ultimate nightmare girlfriend . . . the quintessential Woody Allen girl.”

Allen said of the young cast: “They make me look good. They think I’m making a big contribution; in fact my big contribution is casting and then getting out of their way.”

Allen takes the part of Dobel, an aging, paranoid mentor to Jerry who is obsessed with self-defence and imaginary anti-Semitic plots — a man who Allen said reflected tensions in the world and who brought a hint of post-September 11 seriousness to the film.

“The film is microcosmic to some of the problems that have happened to Israel,” he said.

Mr Allen’s overdue debut at the festival marks the return of his films to Venice after he decided to premier Hollywood Ending at Cannes last year. His previous eight films had taken their first bow on the Lido.

His profound love affair with Venice is well-known, even though he has always shied away from the glare of the festival in the past.

He secretly married Soon-Yi Previn in La Serenissima in 1997 after his split with Mia Farrow, Soon-Yi’s adoptive mother and his long-time movie muse. He also filmed parts of the 1996 musical Everyone Says I Love You on the city’s canals.

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