The press conference for the upcoming Rome Film Fest took place today in the Sala Petrassi at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Now in its 20th edition, the event will be held from October 15 to 26 in its traditional home at the Auditorium, as well as in other iconic venues throughout the city that have long hosted the festival, including MAXXI, Teatro Olimpico ACEA, Casa del Cinema, Cinema Giulio Cesare, Teatro Palladium, and Nuovo Cinema Aquila.
The rich program was unveiled by Salvatore Nastasi, President of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, and Paola Malanga, Artistic Director of both the Rome Film Fest and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma.
Over 150 titles from 38 countries are scheduled to be screened, with a clear intention — as emphasized by President Nastasi — to make the festival a true home for independent filmmakers. This year’s edition will be characterized by a wide range of themes: from pressing global conflicts, with films such as 2000 Meters To Andriivka by Mstyslav Chernov and Cuba & Alaska by Yegor Troyanovsky, to music, with Rino Gaetano – Sempre più blu by Giorgio Verdelli and It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley by Amy Berg, and literature, such as Pirandello – Il gigante innamorato by Costanza Quatriglio. The diverse selection aims to reach an increasingly broad audience.
Among the 18 films competing in the Progressive Cinema section are several standout titles: 40 Secondi by Vincenzo Alfieri, an Italian film focused on the harrowing 24 hours leading up to the murder of Willy Duarte Monteiro; Good Boy by Jan Komasa, starring Emmy Award winner Stephen Graham; Gli occhi degli altri by Andrea De Sica, inspired by the infamous Casati Stampa murder; the documentary Roberto Rossellini – More Than a Life, which uses archival material to explore the maverick filmmaker’s genius; and the psychological drama The Things You Kill by Alireza Khatami, Canada’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars®.
The non-competitive Grand Public section is set to attract wide audiences, featuring titles such as Anna by Monica Guerritore, Cinque secondi by Paolo Virzì, Glenrothan by Brian Cox, Deux Pianos by Arnaud Desplechin, Io sono Rosa Ricci by Lyda Patitucci, the highly anticipated prequel to Mare Fuori titled Per te by Alessandro Aronadio (co-produced with Alice nella città), and La vita va così by Riccardo Milani, the opening film of the festival.
Space is also dedicated to international and Italian television series, including Spain’s Anatomía de un instante by Alberto Rodríguez, which revisits the 1981 coup attempt; The Deal by Jean-Stéphane Bron, which recounts the 2015 Geneva negotiations between the US and Iran. Among Italian series, highlights include Sandokan by Jan Maria Michelini and Nicola Abbatangelo — first presented in 2024 in the MIA’s GREENLit section — Mrs Playmen by Riccardo Donna, about Adelina Tattilo, the devout Catholic woman behind Italy’s first erotic magazine; Prima di noi, a family saga by Daniele Luchetti and Valia Santella; La Preside by Luca Miniero (co-produced with Alice nella città); Guerrieri – Le regole dell’equilibrio by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli; and the final chapter of Vita da Carlo, which will close the festival.
Great anticipation surrounds the arrival of Jafar Panahi, who will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. The acclaimed Iranian director will present his new film Un simple accident, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The award will be presented by Oscar®-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore.
The Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, a new addition to this year’s festival, will go to film producer Lord David Puttnam, honoring major figures in the global film industry who have left a lasting mark on cinema history. The award will be presented by producer, director, and screenwriter Uberto Pasolini, a long-time collaborator of Puttnam in the 1980s and 1990s.
Another new award this year is for Best Documentary, which will be judged by a panel chaired by Romanian producer Alexander Nanau, director and screenwriter Santiago Maza, and producer Nadia Trevisan.
As always, the Rome Film Fest will feature tributes, this year dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini, Claudio Caligari — marking ten years since his passing — and Carlo Rambaldi, master of special effects, on the centenary of his birth.
As every year, the Rome Film Fest is ready to welcome internationally renowned stars. Attending the 20th edition will be Jennifer Lawrence, who will present Die My Love (screening in the Best of 2025 section), and the entire cast of Dracula, the new film by Luc Besson, featured in the Grand Public section.
