The Rome Film Festival is coming to its 19th edition this year. It will start on October 16, 2024 and will be entirely dedicated to Marcello Mastroianni, since the centenary of his birth. Until 27 October 2024, the event will be held at the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone and other cultural venues in the capital.
“Last year the festival was dedicated to Anna Magnani, but the 2024 edition has the gentle face of another icon of Italian cinema, Marcello Mastroianni, whom we celebrate in the centenary year of his birth,” says Roberto Gualtieri, mayor of Rome. He adds: “We will remember him with a great retrospective, restored films, documentaries, exhibitions and meetings: a tribute to the very essence of cinema, its ability to tell stories and thrill, of which Mastroianni was a wonderful interpreter. The charm of cinema is a living and precious resource that we want to continue to value and promote”.
Following are the words of Salvatore Nastasi, President of the Cinema Foundation for Rome: “The identity of the Film Festival is clear, it has changed many times, but what I believe most about it is the fact that it has spread so much for the city and it really became a Festival of the public more than the critics. There are no comparisons with other realities. There are no comparisons – he concludes – our model is close to all the festivals of the big cities”.
The sections of the Rome Film Festival
The Official Selection of the Rome 2024 Film Festival will be composed of various sections: Progressive Cinema Competition – Visions for tomorrow’s world International Competition, which does not distinguish between documentaries, fiction films and animated films; Freestyle Section not competitive, which includes titles of free format and style, from series to videoclips; Grand Public Section not competitive, dedicated to cinema for the general public; Special screenings Section not competitive; Best of 2024 Section not competitive, composed of films from other international festivals; History of the Cinema Section not competitive, dedicated to famous films proposed in restored version, as well as to homages to the history of cinema both Italian and international.
At the same time, there will be two sections dedicated to meetings with the public: Paso Doble Due and Absolute Beginners. Finally, other events will take place simultaneously throughout the city to welcome the passionate public.
It is important to remember that there are 29 countries participating in the 19th edition of the Rome Film Festival: Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, South Korea, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, United States, Switzerland, Taiwan, Hungary, Zambia, UK.
The most anticipated stocks
We come to the point, that is to say, the long-awaited films at the Festival. The opening film will be “Berlinguer, la grande ambizione” by Andrea Segre, starring Elio Germano in the role of Enrico Berlinguer.
Highly anticipated “Fino alla fine”, the thriller by Gabriele Muccino, and “Eterno visionario” by Michele Placido focused on the life of Luigi Pirandello played by Fabrizio Bentivoglio. There is great excitement, then, for the return of the Manetti Bros with “U.S. Palmese”, a romantic-sports comedy starring Rocco Papaleo and Claudia Gerini.
Nella sezione Gran Public si distinguono “La casa degli sguardi” di Luca Zingaretti, “Conclave” con Ralph Fiennes e Stanley Tucci, “Hey Joe” di Claudio Giovannesi con James Franco, “Longlegs” di Osgood Perkis (figlio di Anthony), con Nicolas Cage e “Mani nude” with Alessandro Gassman and Francesco Gheghi.
Worth mentioning, then, “The Return” by Uberto Pasolini with Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes and “Saturday Night Live” by Jason Reitman (Juno) and “We Live in Time” with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh.
Finally, there is also the TV series section, which has become an integral part of the Festival and this year offers a wide range of titles: “Mike”, the series dedicated to Mike Buongiorno played by Claudio Gioè, “Miss Fallaci”, which sees Miriam Leone as the journalist, “The Genius Friend – Story of the lost child”, highly anticipated last season of the Elena Ferrante quadrilogia and “Avetrana – Here’s Not Hollywood” focused on the murder of Sara Scazzi with Vanessa Scalera.
The career awards
To conclude, the Rome Film Festival will also award career prizes. The first is for Viggo Mortensen, who will also present his second film as director, “The dead do not hurt”; the second, instead, will go to Johnny Depp, who will take the opportunity to present “Modì – Three days on the wings of madness” with Riccardo Scamarcio in the clothes of Modigliani.
Copertina: Unsplash