Must-see films, special guests and tributes: an overview of the 13th edition
The 13th Rome Film Festival kicks off on Thursday October 18 and runs until Sunday the 28 at Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Italy.
Artistic Director Antonio Monda, in his first year of his second term, presented the 13th edition with the new Vice President Laura Delli Colli. Monda reaffirmed the festive spirit of the event: «As I always say, those who expect a regular festival will be disappointed: this is a party, a celebration of cinema.»
Delli Colli described the festival as an international party, elegant and popular at the same time, an event imagined for the city and for the audience.
For the first time in 13 editions, two majors have chosen to debut at the Rome Film Festival with world premieres: Sony Pictures will present The Girl in the Spider’s Web by Fede Álvarez, new cinematic chapter taken from the literary saga created by swedish writer Stieg Larsson and continued after his death by David Lagercrantz; Studio Canal is bringing Mia et le Lion Blanc by Gilles de Maistre, a touching story of friendship between an 11-year-old girl and a white lion.
Martin Scorsese, Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert are some of the special guests that will be attending the festival, but the 13th edition also marks the return of Barry Jenkins after the triumph of his film Moonlight at the 90th Oscars: the american director will present If Beale Street Could Talk, a tragic and intense story of racism set in the early 1970s.
Here is an overview of must-see films, special guests and events of the 13th edition.
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Drew Goddard’s film Bad Times at the El Royale will open the festival: the film, starring Jeff Bridges and Dakota Johnson, is the story of seven lost souls who converge on the El Royale, a crumbling resort situated on border between California and Nevada. There’s also great anticipation for other titles like Farenheit 11/9, the new sarcastic documentary about Trump’s America by Michael Moore and The Little Drummer Girl, the miniseries adaptation of John le Carré’s book directed by south korean director and screenwriter Park Chan-Wook. The Official Selection also features The Old Man and The Gun by David Lowery, the last film starring Robert Redford who recently announced his retirement from acting and Green Book by Peter Farrelly, the winner of the People’s Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival: the film tells the story of the famous black musician Don Shirley and his driver Tony Lip as they tour the South of the United States in the 60s.
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT IT
This section is dedicated to those titles that will be screening in Rome after a surprising international debut. One of them is An Elephant Sitting Still, first and last film by chinese director Hu Bo, who committed suicide at the age of 29 shortly before the successful debut of his work at the Berlinale. This four-hour symphony of stories follows the lives of four people who live in a northern chinese town. Gay conversion therapy is the sensitive and tragic theme of Boy Erased by Joel Edgerton and The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Desire Akhavan.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Director Martin Scorsese and actress Isabelle Huppert will receive the Career Awards for their achievements and both will be participating in the Close Encounters with the audience, as well as cinema stars Sigourney Weaver and Cate Blanchett. According to tradition, Rome Film Festival will also host transversal characters such as writer Jonathan Safran Foer, Directors of Photography Arnaldo Catinari and Luciano Tovoli, Film Editors Esmeralda Calabria and Giogiò Franchini and the Director of Cannes Film Festival Thierry Frémaux.
SPECIAL EVENTS, RETROSPECTIVES AND TRIBUTES
Notti Magiche by italian director Paolo Virzì will close the 13th edition of the festival as a Special Event. The festival will also dedicate a tribute to the filmmakers who recently passed away: Ermanno Olmi, Vittorio Taviani and Carlo Vanzina. The main retrospective is dedicated to Peter Sellers, who is also the protagonist of Rome Film Festival’s official image: The Ladykillers, Being There and The Party are some of the titles selected for the tribute to the british actor, screenwriter and director.
