Rome Film Festival to feature 59 world premieres

Having promised 60 world premieres, it has been announced that the seventh edition of the Rome Film Festival, which runs Nov 9-17, will screen 59 world premieres and five international premieres.

The official selection of the revamped festival, the first under new artistic director Marco Mueller [pictured], will consist of five strands: the International Competition; a choice of 2012 Gala screenings Out of Competition; a CinemaXXI competitive section dedicated to new trends in international film with no distinction of genre or format; and Prospettive Italia which will take stock of the new directions in Italian cinema.

With 13 world premieres, the International Competition will feature the likes of Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III, Takashi Miike’s Lesson Of Evil, Paolo Franchi’s E La Chiamano Estate, Larry Clark’s Marfa Girl and Jacques Doillon’s You, Me And Us, as well as two surprise films. As previously announced, Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols will chair the International Jury that will give out seven awards, including the Golden Marc’Aurelio Award for Best Film and the Special Jury Prize. The film awarded the Golden Marc’Aurelio Award will not receive any other prizes from the International Jury.

The climactic part of the Twilight series, directed by Bill Condon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, P.J. Hogan’s Mental and Michele Placido’s The Lookout are among the films screening in the festival’s Out of Competition strand, which will feature five world premieres and four international premieres. Bakhtiar Khudojnazarov’s Waiting For The Sea and Cesc Gay’s Una Pistola En Cada Mano will also screen in the section as the festival’s opening and closing films, respectively.

Featuring 21 world premieres and one international premiere, the CinemaXXI competitive section will show the likes of Stéphanie Argerich’s Bloody Daughter, Xu Haofeng’s Judge Archer and Mike Figgis’s Suspension Of Disbelief. Scottish artist Douglas Gordon is president of the CinemaXXI jury, with Vienna International Film Festival director Hans Hurch, cinematographer Ed Lachman, art historian Andrea Lissoni and contemporary artist Emily Jacir also on the jury.

The Prospettive Italia strand will host seven world premieres of feature films in competition and six documentary world premieres in competition, including Francesco Amato’s Cosimo E Nicole, Alessandro Gassman’s Razza Bastarda and Luca Ferrari’s Pezzi. Italian director and screenwriter Francesco Bruni heads the jury, which also includes actor and film editor Babak Karimi, filmmaker Anna Negri, director and producer Stefano Savona and actress and producer Zhao Tao.

As previously announced, director, actor, and producer Matthew Modine will chair the Best Debut and Second Film jury with eight debut films and six second films in competition eligible for the award.

Walter Hill will receive the Maverick Director Award at this year’s edition, where his latest film Bullet To The Head will world premiere, while Peter Ramsey’s Rise Of The Guardians will receive the Vanity Fair International Award for Cinematic Excellence.

Mueller commented: “While we have carried out a necessary review of the program’s strengths, which permitted us to re-evaluate the number of films being presented (highlighting the core importance of the three competition sections, each of which will now only host world premieres), the 2012 edition of the event does not feature substantial structural changes compared to past editions. Should these be made in the future, they will need to stem from a further work of redefinition of our goals and purposes.

“We – a deeply motivated, expert team and I – had little more than four months to find the best possible course to follow, one aimed at enlivening our relationship with those who make films and distribute them, and to consider our potential audiences not as a predictable answer, but as a constantly renewing question. The program that resulted is one we believe has a distinct identity.”

For more information, visit Rome Film Festival’s website.