Rome Film Festival opens 13 October with Paolo Genovese's 'Il rumore delle cose nuove'
The 21st Festa del Cinema di Roma runs until 25 October with 150 films, an opening ceremony at 19:00 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, and career awards for Julianne Moore and Javier Bardem.
Opening night
The 21st Festa del Cinema di Roma opens on Tuesday, 13 October, and runs until Sunday, 25 October, with its main hub at the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone and events spread across several parts of the city. The opening ceremony starts at 19:00 and is conducted by Ema Stokholma, before the screening of the opening film, 'Il rumore delle cose nuove' by Paolo Genovese, which is presented in the Grand Public section. The film is based on a novel by Genovese, who also made 'Perfetti sconosciuti' and 'FolleMente', and stars Emanuela Fanelli, Claudia Pandolfi, Vittoria Puccini, Stefano Accorsi, Lino Musella and Edoardo Pesce, with Claudio Santamaria in a supporting appearance. It follows three unfamiliar couples who share a self-built cage of fear until an unexpected event pulls them together and forces them to rethink their lives. The festival is produced by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, led by president Salvatore Nastasi, with Paola Malanga as artistic director.
- Opening ceremony at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, followed by the screening of 'Il rumore delle cose nuove'
- 'Low Expectations' screened at Teatro Sistina, preceded by a live dialogue between Girl in Red and Ariete
- Festival closes
Awards and tributes
The opening evening includes two awards. Nicola Piovani receives the first Banca Ifis Music Award, handed over by director Marco Bellocchio, with whom Piovani worked on films from 'Nel nome del padre' (1972) to 'Il traditore' (2019). Piovani, an Oscar winner for 'La vita è bella', has composed more than 250 film scores, including work for Mario Monicelli, the Taviani brothers, Giuseppe Tornatore, Nanni Moretti, Gabriele Muccino and Gianni Amelio. London-based producer Tessa Ross, who was Oscar-nominated for 'Conclave', receives the Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by German director Edward Berger, who worked with her on 'Conclave', shot at Cinecittà. Ross's credits include 'Billy Elliot', 'The Millionaire', 'The Last King of Scotland', 'In Bruges', '12 Years a Slave' and 'The Zone of Interest', and she is producing Danny Boyle's forthcoming 'Ink'. Javier Bardem and Julianne Moore will receive career awards during the festival, and Susan Sarandon will receive the Womenlands Excellence Award in Rome.
Programme and red carpet
The festival screens 150 films this year, with Susan Sarandon starring in 'The Accompanist', the directorial debut of Zach Woods, which is in competition. Salvatore Mereu's 'Alberi Erranti' arrives in Rome after its recent success at the Locarno festival. Eivind Landsvik's 'Low Expectations' is screened on Tuesday, 20 October at Teatro Sistina, preceded by a live dialogue on youth identity between singer-songwriters Girl in Red and Ariete. Travis Knight's animated feature 'Wildwood' is also scheduled for the opening day, and Monica Vitti is the face of the festival posters and the subject of a tribute. Red carpet names announced so far include Kim Kardashian, Jenna Ortega, Naomi Watts, Jesse Eisenberg, Sarah Paulson, Sandra Huller, Paul Bettany and Anthony Ippolito, who plays the young Sylvester Stallone in 'I Play Rocky'. Italian music and sport documentaries feature Jovanotti, Morgan, Daniele De Rossi and Federica Brignone.
On gender balance, the festival's Progressive Cinema international competition includes six women among 18 films, compared with two women among 21 films in the main competition at Venice. Susanna Nicchiarelli is in the same competition with 'Giorni Felici', and Kasia Smutniak presents 'Mustang', a documentary about her 2003 trip to Nepal with Pietro Taricone, who died in 2010. Italy is also represented by Simone Catania's 'Brianza', about an entrepreneur in crisis who moves toward illegality.
Attendance and prospects
Salvatore Nastasi said the festival, which Mayor Gualtieri had asked to become more metropolitan and spread across the city, has reached its fullest extent so far. He linked this year's growth to the number of venues and the quality of the programme.
Last year we had 100,000 attendances, and this year I think we will do more, not only because we have more venues but because of the quality of the programme.
The festival closes on Sunday, 25 October, after the Low Expectations screening on Tuesday, 20 October. Last year's attendance of 100,000 is the reference point the organisers have set for this edition.
