British film reveals 'illicit' side of Venice

The Venice Biennale is one of the biggest and most glamorous occasions in the art world, where cutting-edge exhibits compete for attention among the international glitterati gathered in the Giardini gardens.

But Britain's entry in this year's competition depicts a different side to Venice's municipal gardens - a place which in winter reverts to a rubbish-strewn derelict wilderness.

The 40-minute film, Giardini, is the work of British artist and film maker Steve McQueen. More than 70 nations are competing, including, for the first time, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

McQueen, whose first feature film Hunger, about the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, was acclaimed by critics and won a major award at Cannes. He said he wanted to show the other side of the gardens - "it's drug dealing and the other illicit things that happen in a public space."

He added: "When you go back in the winter, the Biennale site is like an abandoned graveyard. It is a parallel existence...with nocturnal happenings."