ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Nicolas Cage signed autographs and waved to the press prior to his news conference for the Southern gothic "Joe," which screened in competition at the Venice film festival on Friday (August 30). In the film, Cage plays a hot-headed, bourbon-swigging Southerner who befriends a young boy with a violent background. Cage won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter drinking himself to death in the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas." This year's festival opened on Wednesday (August 28) and will conclude on September 7 with the awarding of the Golden Lion trophy for best film.