To the Brits, a Barney might be a fight or conflict, but here in Canada it’s a star-studded feature sure to make a splash on this years’ festival circuit.

Only two days after it was announced as a TIFF gala presentation, Serendipity Point Films’ Barney’s Version was named to the competition at the 67th Venice Film Festival.

The film, an adaptation of a Mordecai Richler novel, is produced by Robert Lantos and directed by Richard J. Lewis (Whale Music, CSI). It stars Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight series, Fugitive Pieces), Rosamund Pike (An Education, Pride & Prejudice) and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, I’m Not There). In fact, cinematographer Guy Dufaux also worked on The Trotsky and the Oscar-winning The Barbarian Invasions, so the pedigree even extends behind the camera.

Barney’s was just one of 22 films announced in competition on Thursday. Other notables include Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, which opens the fest and stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder. Swan is seen by some as a surprise opener, but it should be remembered that Aronofsky won the competition in 2008 with the unexpected Mickey Rourke vehicle The Wrestler.

The rest of the line-up, both in and out of competition, includes a number of buzz-worthy films, including Sofia Coppola’s comedy/drama Somewhere, Vincent Gallo’s Promises Written in Water, Casey Affleck’s sure-to-be-very-strange-and/or-very-interesting doc I Am Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix, and brother Ben Affleck’s second directorial effort The Town, which stars Pete Postlethwaite and his dulcet tones.

In all, 79 world premieres will be shown at Venice, which runs Sept 1-11 this year — a three-day overlap with TIFF.

Interestingly, this year director Quentin Tarantino will head the jury awarding the festival’s top prize, so the smart money might expect the unexpected.