Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt's separate premieres hide ongoing legal battle

The Venice Film Festival kicked off the fall season in style, with Angelina Jolie sparking Oscar buzz after receiving an eight-minute standing ovation for her biopic Maria about opera singer Maria Callas.

The Maleficent star, 49, tearfully accepted the applause and later explained during a press conference how she identified with Callas, saying: "I related to the part of her that is extremely soft and didn't have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was and as emotionally open as she truly was."

Three days after Jolie's premiere, her ex-husband Pitt, 60, made his red carpet debut with girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 34, at the Wolfs premiere alongside George Clooney, thrilling the crowd.

The night before, Pitt and de Ramon joined Clooney and his wife Amal for dinner, playfully joking with fellow diners as Clooney pretended to be a waiter with Pitt as his "sidekick".

This harmonious display comes despite Pitt and Jolie's ongoing legal battle over finances and custody of their six children since their 2016 divorce filing.

Although they were declared legally single in 2019, the details of their split remain unresolved.

Pitt and Jolie's divorce has expanded to include a dispute over Château Miraval, their $60 million French villa and winery.

The couple had found success with their Miraval wine label, selling out their first 6,000 bottles of rosé in just five hours in 2013.

The Babylon actor alleged in court documents that Jolie aimed to hurt him by selling her share of their wine company, Miraval, to the Stoli Group following their separation.

Pitt, who did a photo shoot with Clooney at Miraval to promote Wolfs, told GQ that he is “really just trying to enjoy the people that I love around me and just living,” he said.

“I don’t know how to not sound cheesy about it, but just the air is fresh and grass is green, and I’ve just kind of become that guy a little bit.”