Awards season is officially underway as the Venice Film Festival opened with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's satire "Birdman."

The film, starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, tells the story of a washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero and must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory.

The movie opened to glowing reviews, with critics stating it is officially an Oscars front runner. Star Keaton obtained the best reviews with Jo-Ann Titmarsh from HeyUGuys starting, "This is Keaton's film and he truly soars as the eponymous Birdman."

Cath Clarke of Time Out also raved about Keaton and said, "Michael Keaton soars in this savagely funny, strangely sweet, sad and utterly brilliant New York-set comedy from Alejandro González Iñárritu."

Keaton has never obtained an Oscar nomination and this could very well be a career-high for the actor.

Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki also obtained some of the best reviews of his career. Jessica Kiang of the Playlist stated that he was the MVP of the feature and said, "His camerawork is simply dazzling (and often dazzled, wheeling up into the bright sky or wandering past stage lights), and the decision to have the vast majority of the film play out as one continuous shot is not just a show-off move but absolutely vital to the film's themes."

The film itself scored raves and currently has an aggregate score of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Inarritu has been very consistent with the Academy, as all his four previous films have been nominated for major awards. "Babel" scored seven Oscar nominations including a Best Picture while "Amores Perros" and "Biutiful" scored nominations for foreign film. Meanwhile, "21 Grams" scored nominations for his two actors.

The opening night slot at Venice has been consistent in showcasing Oscar contenders. "Gravity" opened the festival to rave reviews and went on to win seven Oscars. Meanwhile, "Black Swan" was also nominated for five Academy Awards and went on to win one. In 2007, "Atonement" opened the festival and went on to be nominated for seven Oscars and won one.

However, it does not always represent Oscar glory. In 2008, "Burn After Reading" opened to rave reviews but failed to capture any Oscars. In 2012, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" opened the festival and quickly fell off the map. The movie not only failed to score a distribution deal but it also scored mixed reviews.

"Birdman" will also premiere at the Telluride and the New York Film Festival.

The festival also saw the first major acquisition. Drafthouse Films and Participant Media acquired U.S. rights to Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary "The Look of Silence" prior to its world premiere at the festival. The documentary is a companion piece to Oppenheimer's "The Act of Killing," which received a nomination at the latest Academy Awards. The movie explores Indonesian genocide and its legacy from the victim's point of view, following one man on his search for the truth as he confronts his brother's killers. The movie will also premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.

Drafthouse will release it in the summer of 2015.

The Venice Film Festival is slated to run through Sept. 6 when it hands out the Golden Lion for the top film in the festival.

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