Tuesday, October 30---------The second edition of the Cinema: Rome Filmfest was, by all accounts, a smashing success. Not only was there a ferocious public response but the industry gave the event a thumbs up as well. Those who stood on the sidelines and wondered if a film festival would be accepted by the Rome public and if the industry needed yet another film event on the busy Fall film calendar, were in agreement that the Festival delivered.Yes, there were the inevitable glitches.....a few ...
Monday, October 29-------Ending what was undoubtedly a highly successful sophomore edition, the Cinema: Rome Filmfest announced its major awards at a gala Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening, in conjunction with a live concert event saluting and playing the music of Italian master composer Ennio Morricone. The Festival delivered on the glamour and the glitz, while also highlighting many worthy films in its various film sections.The Popular Jury of the official Competition Section, made up of...
Friday, October 26-----------As the Rome FilmFest enters its final weekend, award ceremonies abound and we will cover them for you in detail. The first award was given out last Saturday to 19-year-old Iranian director Hana Makhmalbaf, who received the Paolo Ungari UNICEF prize for her film BUDDHA COLLAPSED OUT OF SHAME, which screened in the Alice In The City Competition section. The prize was awarded "for her courage and subtlety when dealing with such a sensible issue as the girl's d...
Thursday, October 25---------As the Rome FilmFest moves into its final weekend, it offers a number of stellar talents and films on Friday. Director Susanne Bier and star Halle Berry will walk the Red Carpet for the film THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE. This is acclaimed Danish director Bier's English language debut, and it is a powerful story of love and redemption that co-stars Berry and fellow Oscar winner Benicio del Toro. The film had its European Premiere earlier this week at the London Film F...
Wednesday, October 24-------The Rome Film Festival has released the statistics of its parallel market initiative The Business Street. Just 48 hours after the second edition of The Business Street came to a close on Sunday, film sales and acquisitions are still being finalized, but the activity clearly points to a successful venture that gives the Festival a unique profile in the sales of films to the international marketplace.In all 142 industry screenings were held (up from 130 last year), ...
Tuesday, October 23---------Last night at the Sala Sinopoli, the Rome FilmFest presented a program introducing UP AND COMING STARS: FRENCH AND ITALIAN YOUNG TALENTS. The program was co-presented by promotion agencies Unifrance and FilmItalia. The original idea for the program originated at the Franco-German Film Meetings (Rendez-vous franco-allemands) in Munich in November 2006, from a desire by the promotion agencies Unifrance and German Films to build contact between up and coming movie in...
Monday, October 22-----Ang Lee, the Oscar-winning director of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN will take part in the evening tribute event on Wednesday night at the Rome FilmFest dedicated to Italian director Sergio Leone. The director's latest film, LUST, CAUTION, is currently playing in theaters worldwide. As a member of the Film Foundation, Ang Lee has been designated by Martin Scorsese to introduce the world premiere of the restored version of Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968), featuring an al...
The Oscar-winning director of "Brokeback Mountain" to take part in the evening tribute event the FilmFest is dedicating to Sergio Leone. As a member of the Film Foundation, Ang Lee has been designated by Martin Scorsese to introduce the world premiere of the restored version of "Once Upon a Time in the West", a joint effort between the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, Scorsese’s Film Foundation, and Paramount Pictures. The project was announced in Rome a year ago by Scorsese...
Monday, October 22-------A film festival, even one that is dubbed a “public festival” as is the Rome FilmFest, always has a professional dimension to it. Films that are shown have either been sold or are actively being promoted to distributors in the host country. A strong response from the public or from film critics can foster the alchemy that allows films to be sold internationally. The Rome Filmfest has determined to facilitate this professional perspective by an initiative it calls Th...
Sunday, October 21--------The excitement on the Red Carpet last evening was not for a big time movie star or even a local Italian celebrity, but for a film giant, with decidedly Italian roots. Francis Ford Coppola, the iconic director of such classics as THE GODFATHER trilogy, THE CONVERSATION and APOCALYPSE NOW, is being honored here with the greatest respect and awe. His newest film YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH had its World Premiere last evening at the Festival’s Sala Santa Cecilia, the largest of...
Sunday, October 21--------The Rome Film Festival, in only its second year, has broken last year’s box office records. A total of 42,000 tickets have been sold so far, with many screenings filled to capacity. The Festival’s website, www.romacinemafest.org, has also seen a veritable boom in visitors, with more than one million webpage impressions recorded in the last few weeks. “The Festival has been a tremendous success with the public”, declares Goffredo Bettini, President of the Fond...
Saturday, October 20--------On only the third day of the Festival, the star power on the Rome Red Carpet is truly impressive. As the Festival gets into high gear, it will premiere a number of important films in all its various sections and welcome the international elite of the film world to the Eternal City. The movie stars, film autuers and cinema mavericks include:Francis Ford Coppola, Director, screening his new film YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTHTim Roth, Actor, YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH Alexandra Maria...
Friday, October 19----------Even though Queen Elizabeth is in town (not the real royal but the one played by Cate Blanchett in ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE), and despite the fact that such industry heavyweights as Francis Ford Coppolla, Sidney Lumet and Tom Cruise are somewhere here in the Eternal City for screenings of their films this weekend, all eyes will be on Sophia tonight.....Sophia Loren that is. The iconic actress will walk the Red Carpet in advance of the screening of a new documentary...
Thursday, October 18----------The second edition of CINEMA: Rome FilmFest opens this evening with the gala screening of LE DEUXIEME SOUFFLE, by French auteur director Alain Corneau. The film brings together an impressive line-up of topline French film talents, including Daniel Auteuil, Monica Bellucci, Michel Blanc, Eric Cantona and genuine film noir icons Jacques Dutronc and Daniel Duval. The film had its world premiere at last month's Toronto International Film Festival and is making its Eur...
Wednesday, October 17-------------Rome is a great city, and it deserves a great film festival. And in only its second edition, CINEMA: Rome Film Fest is presenting just that......a sprawling event filled with movie stars, international auteurs, hot new directors and an impressive roster of professional events. The second edition of CINEMA. Festa Internazionale di Roma - RomeFilmFest will be held from the 18th to the 27th of October 2007 in the Rome Auditorium, along with screenings at movie...
CINEMA: Rome Film Fest has announced a major coup (undoubtedly the first of many) with the World Premiere presentation of the hotly anticipated biopic FUR, which stars Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman as troubled New York photographer icon Diane Arbus. The film, which is slated to open in October in the US, is considered a major Oscar frontrunner for Kidman, director Steven Shainberg and film distributor Picturehouse.
The film tells the compelling story of famed photographer Diane ...
Logo of CINEMA: Rome Film Fest
Most festivals, in their debut year, have a modest agenda and try to keep expectations at a low pitch. Not so CINEMA: Rome Film Fest, which is approaching its inaugural session with the velocity of an unstoppable train.
It has always seemed curious to Americans why some of Europe’s largest cities have not had a major film festival attached to them. Why, we wonder, did it take decades for Paris, the most cinephile of cities, to launch its own film event? Why are...
Rome's famed Via Veneto
Casa del Cinema
The Festival Auditorium
Casa del Jazz
Casa delle Letterature
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The inaugural Cinema: Rome Film Fest, which will be held in the Italian capitol from 13 to 21 October, is shaping up to become a major European festival destination this Fall. The details of the event are just beginning to take shape, with an ambitious program of serious arthouse premieres, industry networking opportunities and a substantial sprinkling of Hollywood stardust.
Sure to be one of the highlights of the event will be atribute to veteran actor Sean Connery , who will be the first r...
