Reitman, Ivory, Hallström and “New Moon” Head To Rome Fest

A scene from Chris Weitz's "New Moon." Image courtesy of Summit Entertainment.

The Rome International Film Festival has set the slate for its fourth edition, which will run October 15-23, 2009 and feature an impressive variety of films, retrospectives, encounters, exhibitions, concerts and the attendance of great national and international stars.  Fourteen films will screen in competition in the Official Selection of the fest, of which three are Italian: “Alza la Testa” by Alessandro Angelini, “L’Uomo che Verrà” by Giorgio Diritti, and “Viola di Mare,” by Donatella Maiorca.  The films joining them include Jason Reitman’s “Up In The Air,” Danis Tanovic’s “Triage,” Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station,” Alberto Rodríguez’s “After,” Marco Berger’s “Plan B,” Margarethe Von Trotta’s “Vision,” Miguel Littin’s “Dawson, Island 10,” Cédric Kahn’s “Regrets,” Dima El-Horr’s “Every Day Is a Holiday,” Nicolo Donato’s “Brotherhood,” and Geng Jun’s “Youth.”

The films in competition in the Official Selection section will be judged by an international jury led by director Milos Forman and also including Assia Djebar, Gabriele Muccino, Gae Aulenti, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Pavel Lungin and Senta Berger. 

Documentaries screening in competition in the fest’s “Extra” program include Andrew Lang’s “Sons of Cuba,” Kristian Fraga’s “Severe Clear,” Betty M. Park’s “Mamachas of the Ring,” Michael Sladek’s “Con Artist,” Richard Shepard’s “I Knew It Was You,” and Edmon Roch’s “Garbo, The Man Who Saved The World.”

The films screening out of competition include some notable premieres: James Ivory’s latest, “The City of Your Final Destination,” starring Anthony Hopkins, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Laura Linney, Joel and Ethan Coen’s “A Serious Man,” David Bowers’ animated “Astro Boy,” which features the voices of Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson, and Lasse Hallström’s “Hachiko: A Dog’s Story,” starring Richard Gere and Joan Allen.

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Gere will join Meryl Streep at the fest or the event “a journey through American cinema.” Streep will additionally receive the Golden Marc’Aurelio Acting Award, which has previously gone to Sean Connery, Sophia Loren and Al Pacino, and the fest will present a retrospective of her work, including her latest film “Julie & Julia,” which will have its Italian premiere at the festival. Likely to draw the largest amount of worldwide media attention is the festival’s special presentation of sequences from “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”  Rome will premiere sequences of the highly anticipated sequel, presented by director Chris Weitz, screenwriter Melissa Rosenthal and the film’s cast. For a full list of films screening in Rome, check out the festival’s website. posted on September 25, 2009 |Share