"Black Swan" had its world premiere as the opening film at the 67th Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2010. It received a standing ovation whose length "Variety" said made it "one of the strongest Venice openers in recent memory". The festival's artistic director Marco Mueller had chosen "Black Swan" over "The American" (starring George Clooney) for opening film, saying, "[It] was just a better fit ... Clooney is a wonderful actor, and he will always be welcome in Venice. But it was as simple as that." "Black Swan" screened in competition and is the third consecutive film directed by Aronofsky to premiere at the festival, following "The Fountain" and "The Wrestler". "Black Swan" was presented in a sneak screening at the Telluride Film Festival on September 5, 2010. It also had a Gala screening at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival later in the month. In October 2010, "Black Swan" was screened at the New Orleans Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival. In November 2010, the film was screened at American Film Institute's AFI Fest in Los Angeles, the Denver Film Festival and Camerimage Festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland.