Venice, Italy  - Leftwing Italian director Michele Placido lost his temper at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday when quizzed over why his film of the 1968 student revolts was part funded by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's media empire.

Placido, during a press conference to present Il Grande Sogno - a semi-autobiographical homage to the leftist student revolts of 1968 - criticised Berlusconi's government for cutting funds to the performing arts.

But asked by a reporter from the German Press Agency dpa to explain the apparent contradiction of having his film co-produced by Medusa Film, which is part of Berlusconi's media empire, Placido lost his temper.

Shouting out an expletive, Placido demanded: "Where am I going to find money to make films? That's a stupid question! That's a stupid question!".

Then, assuming the reporter was British or American because the question was in English, and in an apparent reference to the war in Iraq he added: "You invade other countries, you send people to die and then you make movies to say how good (natured) you are."

When the reporter said she was Spanish, Placido replied: "That's even worse."

Il Grande Sogno, or the Great Dream, tells the story of Nicola, a policeman and aspiring actor, played by Riccardo Scamarcio, who is sent undercover to spy on a student activist at Rome's La Sapienza university, but falls in love with one of their leaders, a middle-class girl called Laura, played by Jasmine Trinca.

Placido said the character of Nicola is based on his own experience as a policeman in the late 1960s who had his eyes opened by his contact with leftist students "my first teachers" and was later able to pursue a career as an actor and director.

Il Grande Sogno is one of four Italian films out of a total of 24 that are running in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

The festival runs from September 2 to 12.(dpa)