Venice Film Festival 2013 Day : Director Alberto Barbera Blasts Telluride Film Festival; Rebecca Hall Film Premieres

The Venice Film Festival's eighth day continued to go strong as more films premiered.

One of the most anticipated films at the festival was "A Promise," which generated massive hype at the Venice market. The film, starring Rebecca Hall and Alan Rickman, premiered to lukewarm reception. David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, "A slow-burn romance that barely smolders, let alone catches fire ..."

Justin Chang of Variety agreed and wrote, "Alan Rickman, Rebecca Hall and Richard Madden star in this awkward, passionless period drama from Patrice Leconte." The film next premieres at the Toronto Film Festival where it will look for a distributor.

Another film that premiered at the festival was Ti West's "The Sacrament." The film also scored lukewarm reviews with Guy Lodge of Variety stating, "Ti West's largely terrific sixth feature investigates unseemly goings-on at a rural Christian commune." The Playlist's Oliver Lyttelton gave the movie a C+ and said "It's symptomatic of the hastiness with which the conclusion seems to have been cooked up, and ultimately emblematic of what a missed opportunity the film proves to be."

Other films to premiere included "Jealousy," Errol Morris' "The Unknown Known" and "Moebius."

The Festival's director Alberto Barbera recently caused controversy when he blasted organizers of the Telluride Film Festival. The director was upset about the sneak peak previews that Telluride showed this year. For example, Telluride showed "Under the Skin," "The Unknown Known" and "Palo Alto" before each movie's world premiere scheduled for Venice. He told Variety, "For next year, we will all have to be agreed on the ground rules: if a movie is in competition in Venice it has to screen here first."

Barbera also criticized the festival for going behind his back. He concluded that he would be talking to Telluride co-founder Tom Luddy about the current situation.

The Venice Film Festival continues until Sept. 7 when the festival will award the Golden Lion prize.