A press conference was held yesterday, September 22, 2022, to announce the Official Selection of the 17th edition of the Rome Film Festival.

In the usual framework of Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone Gian Luca Farinelli and Paola Malanga, respectively President of Fondazione Cinema per Roma and Artistic Director of Rome Film Fest, presented this year’s list of projects and all the novelties. Opening the kermesse, which will be held from the 13th to the 23th of October 2022, will be The Hummingbird by Francesca Archibugi starring Pierfrancesco Favino and Bérénice Bejo.

This year’s edition has among its novelties the establishment of an international competition, entitled Progressive Cinema – Visions for the World of Tomorrow, in which 16 titles will compete:

  • Alam by Firas Khour;
  • Causeway by Lila Neugebaue;
  • Thunder by Carmen Jaquier;
  • Jeong-sun by Jeong Ji-hye;
  • Ramona by Andrea Bagney;
  • SHTTL by Ady Walter;
  • La Cura by Francesco Paterno;
  • I morti rimangono a bocca aperta by Fabrizio Ferraro;
  • Houria by Mounia Meddour;
  • In a Land That No Longer Exists by Aelrun Goette;
  • January by Viesturs Kairiš;
  • The Hotel by Wang Xiaoshuai;
  • Raymond & Ray by Rodrigo García;
  • Sanctuary by Zachary Wigon;
  • Lockdown Tower by Guillaume Nicloux;
  • The Padilla Affair by Pavel Giroud.

The novelty of the national competition will be accompanied by the well-established non-competitive sections. Freestyle will host 25 projects ranging from video art to films to then move on to documentaries and video clips:

  • 75 – Biennale Ronconi Venezia by Jacopo Quadri;
  • Beloved Shores by Egidio Eronico;
  • Bassifondi by Francesco Pividori;
  • La California by Cinzia Bomoll;
  • Daniel Pennac: Ho visto Maradona! by Ximo Solano;
  • Dario Fo: l’ultimo mistero buffo by Gianluca Rame;
  • Three Woman and the War by Luzia Schmid;
  • La Divina Cometa by Mimmo Paladino;
  • Django  – The Series by Francesca Comencini;
  • Enrico Cattaneo / Rumore Bianco by Francesco Clerici and Ruggero Gabbai;
  • Er gol de Turone era bono by Francesco Miccichè and Lorenzo Rossi Espagnet;
  • Jane Campion, T he Cinema Woman by Julie Bertuccelli;
  • Jazz Set by Steve Della Casa;
  • The Last Movie Stars by Ethan Hawke;
  • Life is (not) a game by Antonio Valerio Spera;
  • Lola by Andrew Legge;
  • Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues by Sacha Jenkins;
  • Lynch/ Oz by Alexandre O. Philippe;
  • Il maledetto by Giulio Base;
  • Nino Migliori. Viaggio intorno alla mia stanza by Elisabetta Sgarbi;
  • La Paz del Futuro by Francesco Clerici and Luca Previtali;
  • Romulus II – La Guerra per Roma by Matteo Rovere;
  • Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot by William Kentridge;
  • Sono Lillo by Eros Puglielli;
  • Souvenir D’Italie by Giorgio Verdelli.

Grand Pubblic is the non-competitive section of Rome Film Festival dedicated to cinema for the general public.This year’s selection includes 16 titles:

  • The Hummingbird by Francesca Archibugi;
  • Amsterdam by David O. Russell; Astolfo by Gianni Di Gregorio;
  • Bros by Nicholas Stoller;
  • Butcher’s Crossing by Gabe Polsky;
  • Era ora by Alessandro Aronadio;
  • The Lost King by Stephen Fears;
  • The Menu by Mark Mylod;
  • Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Anthony Fabrizio Verlod;
  • Caravaggio’s Shadow by Michele Placido;
  • Il Principe di Roma by Edoardo Falcone;
  • Robbing Mussoliniby Renato De Maria;
  • Rheingold by Faith Akin;
  • La stranezza by Roberto Andò;
  • War by Gianni Zanasi;
  • What’s Love Got to Do with It? by Shekhar Kapur.

The Special Screenings section counts 11 titles;

  • The Super 8 Years by Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot;
  • A Cooler Climate by James Ivory;
  • Good Morning Tel Aviv by Giovanna Gagliardo;
  • Kill Me if You Can by Alex Infascelli;
  • Confine by Alice Tomassini;
  • Ora Tocca a Noi – Storia di Pio la Torre by Walter Veltroni;
  • Polański, Horowitz. Hometown by Mateusz Kudła and Anna Kokoszka-Romer;
  • Ritratto di Regina by Fabrizio Ferri;
  • Rules of War by Guido Hendirkx;
  • Umberto Eco – La Biblioteca del Mondo by Davide Ferrario;
  • Via Argine 310 by Gianfranco Pannone.

The Best of 2022 section, also non-competitive, brings together the best films from International Festivals:

  • All That Breathes by Shaunak Sen;
  • Les Amandiers by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi;
  • As Bestas by Rodrigo Sorogoyen;
  • Corsage by Marie Kreutzer;
  • Coupez! by Michel Hazanavicius;
  • Envol by Pietro Marcello;
  • L’innocent by Louis Garrel;
  • Klondike by Maryna Er Gorbach;
  • Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush by Andreas Dresen;
  • Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund;
  • Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh.

These titles will be joined by those of the History of Cinema sections, consisting of tributes and restored titles, and the Ms. Woodward and Mr. Newman Retrospective, consisting of 15 films dedicated to the stars curated by Mario Sesti.

For further information please visit the Rome Film Festival website.

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