Rome: 'Nocturama', 'Captain Fantastic' among Alice In The City line-up

The line-up for this year’s Alice In The City (Alice nella Citta) – the sidebar dedicated to younger generations at Rome Film Festival (Oct 13-23) – has been revealed.

Now in its 14^th edition, the event will present a total of 42 titles across five programmes.

The Competition Young/Adult programme will screen films including Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic, which premiered in Cannes, Taika Waitit’s Hunt For The Wilderpeople, New Zealand’s highest-grossing local film, and Travis Knight’s Kubo And The Two Strings. A 27-strong jury aged 14-18 will select a winner from the 12-strong line-up.

The Alice Panorama programme will feature ten titles including Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama [pictured], which recently played at Toronto International Film Festival, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Sundance premiere Swiss Army Man, with Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano, and John Carney’s Sing Street.

Storks by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland and Rock Dog by Ash Brannon, both animation features, will screen out of competition, as will the international premiere of Stewart Jendler’s live action Max Steel.

This year’s Alice nella Citta will also feature a retrospective of the works of Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami, who passed away in July this year. A total of 16 of his films will be screened.

Elsewhere, the MIA Cinema co-production market will present a spotlight on six projects from emerging Italian directors: Giochi Dell’Altro Mondo by Barbara Iannarilli and Giulia Merenda, I Cattivi by Claudio Noce, Il Fattore T by Francesco Costabile, Cosimo Alemà and Under The Same Sky by Ilaria Freccia, and Stay Still by Elisa Mishto.

Rome Film Festival

The first raft of events and films for the full Rome Film Festival programme have also been announced.

Decorated Academy Award-winning trio Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Oliver Stone will all be in attendance this year to take part in Close Encounters, the festival’s in-conversation events.

Hanks will be presented with a lifetime achievement award and a retrospective of 15 of his films will be shown, including his works as a director.

Festival artistic director Antonio Monda commented: “I consider Tom Hanks to be one of the greatest actors of all time… for the versatility that he commands extending from drama to comedy, for the psychological finesse with which he immortalises characters who will remain forever in our imagination.”

Streep will discuss the great Italian actresses who influenced her, including Teorema star Silvana Mangano.

Stone will be in Rome to talk about American politics as the US presidential election nears it conclusion.

Elsewhere, the festival will host a tribute to American writer-director Michael Cimino, who passed away in July this year.