A great new festival taking place in a great city: for the first time, the city of cinema will host an international festival of cinema. Did you remeber? I announced it last month, and now it is at its kick off.
For nine days, in fact, from 13rd to 21st October, Rome will transforme the Auditorium Music Centre (the Rome’s new Auditorium designed by architect Renzo Piano) in the Cinema Centre. Auditorium will be the heart of the event, with four screening theatres vaunting state-of-the-art equipment, as well as conference rooms and reception areas. But all the city is involved in this Festival: Via Veneto, Piazza del Popolo, Trevi Fountain, Cinecittà Studios… Rome is about to make real a film’s lover dream with 20 screens all around the city, all dedicated to premiers that showcase the great international cinema of today.
The big challenge of the festival is that it is an event really designed for the public: for people who love films but who have maybe never set foot in a film festival till now.
There are three official awards: Best Film, Best Actress and Best Actor. The Awards will be assigned by a People’s Jury presided by Ettore Scola. The official awards of the RomeFilmFest have been designed by the artists of Bulgari, the Italian jewellery makers famous all over the world, who have inspired themselves on the statue of Marco Aurelio, symbol of the city of Rome.
Along with these prizes, the Acting Award will be given to Sean Connery.
On October 14, the Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, will award the Scottish actor with the City of Rome Prize.
The great opening ceremony will be on October 13, hosted by international superstar Nicole Kidman.
More coming from Rome, so… stay tuned!
