Kate Hudson wows at somber Venice Film Festival launch

The 69th Venice Film Festival kicked off in Italy on Wednesday (29Aug12) with the premiere of new mom Kate Hudson's Mira Nair film The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

The actress joined co-stars Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber on the red carpet and shared a kiss for photographers with fiance Matt Bellamy.

Polish actress and model Kasia Smutniak opened the festival with a somber reminder that filmmaker Jafar Panahi is still under house arrest in his native Iran for making films about the country deemed inappropriate and could not attend the event.

His absence was marked by an empty seat onstage outside the Palazzo Del Cinema.

Panahi has also been remembered at other European film festivals, where he was once a regular.