A string of embarrassing blunders, including one which left actor Al Pacino with no seat at the premiere of his latest movie, have plagued this year's Venice Film Festival.

But organisers say they are merely victims of their own success.

"We have put a Ferrari engine in a small, old Fiat 500 car," said Davide Croff, president of the Venice Biennale, which oversees the festival.

Festival officials blame the problems on bigger crowds than anticipated, demands by Hollywood studios to concentrate their films in the first five days, stars' dallying on the red carpet outside the main theatre and outdated infrastructure.

Pacino was left without a seat for his The Merchant of Venice after a computer glitch generated some 200 extra tickets. He finally got a seat several rows back at the Saturday night gala showing which started 70 minutes late.

"In my entire life as a producer I've never seen anything like this at a festival and for this reason I'm never coming back to Venice,", Merchant co-producer Michael Lionello Cowan told Venice newspaper La Nuova.

The delay pushed back the evening's final screening of Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland until 2:15am.

"Welcome to the breakfast screening of Neverland," Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein told the audience.

"This morning (festival director Marco) Muller will be serving the croissants and I'll be teaching him the meaning of timing.

"Then I'll drown him in the lagoon, with his feet encased in cement," the studio head jested, according to Muller.

The festival ends on Sept. 11.

--<strong>Reuters</strong>