FINALLY, after all the months of anticipation, speculation and rumours, Neil Jordan's film, Michael Collins, is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival which runs from August 28th to September 7th. The film will go on US release on October 11th. Robert Daly, chairman and co chief executive of Warner Bros, who are distributing the film worldwide, told the Los Angeles Times this week that they plan to release the film in Ireland and Britain "probably some time after the first of the year, again depending on the political environment" and added, "This is not a film we are hiding."

Neil Jordan is now into the sixth of ten weeks' shooting on The Butcher Boy, which has moved from its Clones locations to Ardmore Studios in Bray. It features Stephen Rea and Ian Hart, both of whom are in Michael Collins, along with Fiona Shaw, Sinead O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson, Sean McGinley and the young newcomers Eamon Owens and Alan Boyle.

Michael Collins is an Irish entry at Venice and one of 18 films in competition for the festival's principal prize, the Golden Lion. The other entries include the new movies from Ken Loach (Carla's Song), Volker Schlondorff (The Ogre), Abel Ferrara (The Funeral), Claude Lelouche (Hommes, Femmes, Mode d'Emploi), Manoel de Oliveira (Party) and Jean Luc Godard (Forever Mozart). Three entries have yet to be announced, along with the names of this year's festival jury.

Venice opens with the world premiere of Barry Levinson's Sleepers, a story of abused youngsters seeking revenge in adulthood and featuring Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dust in Hoffman and Kevin Bacon. It will be screened out of competition at Venice, as will Jane Campion's eagerly awaited The Portrait of a Lady, starring Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Martin Donovan and Barbara Hershey.