The Venice Film Festival is getting underway today, kicking off with the world premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth. However, before the red carpet rollout this evening, there was some spirited discussion — and a bit of dissension in the ranks — at the annual opening press conference. The panel, led by Venice chief Alberto Barbera, who was joined by jury president Lucrecia Martel, was dominated by debate over the fest’s inclusion of Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy, as well as the fact that only two female filmmakers are in the main section, and how to change that going forward. Regarding Polanski, Barbera reiterated that he is “convinced that we have to distinguish necessarily between the artist and the man. The history of art is full of artists who committed crimes of a different nature, nevertheless we have continued to admire their works of art. The same is true for Polanski who is in my opinion one of the last masters still active in European cinema.” Related Story César Awards Nominations: Roman Polanski’s ‘An Officer And A Spy’ Leads With 12; Ladj Ly’s ‘Les Misérables’ Scores 11 – Full List Martel took a different stance, saying, “I don’t…