Davies, Hare, Nyman, Kureishi to attend Rome's UK focus Punks and Patriots

The sixth edition of the International Rome Film Festival (Oct 27-Nov 4) will offer a focus on UK cinema and culture. The focus will include the “Punks and Patriots” retrospective, produced in collaboration with the BFI London Film Festival and chaired by Screen International film critic Jonathan Romney, who asked the participants to select the films they will present.

Directors Terence Davies and David Hare, musician Michael Nyman and writer Hanif Kureishi will be attending Rome, where Romney will lead an audience Q&A with them, that will focus in part on selected films that underscore ‘subversive’ culture vs. the cultural mainstream production of the same era.

For the event, Rome’s red carpet will be dressed up with an installation by artist Simon J. Lycett, who works on British Royal Family special events and who provided the floral decorations for the recent marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Seven films will also be screened as part of the sidebar focus, including Page Eight by David Hare, with actor Bill Nighy, attending, The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Davies and Trishna by Michael Winterbottom who is also attending the festival.

Winterbottom has spent ample time in Italy shooting the feature Genova.

Other films to be shown include Tyrannosaur by Paddy Considine and Wild Bill by Dexter Fletcher.