'' 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
67th Venice Film Festival
67th Venice International Film Festival
Black Swan (film)