Rome: International Film Festival, 15 – 23 October 2009

The International Rome Film Festival will take place from the 15th to the 23rd of October in various venues and cinemas all around Rome (the headquarters of the event will be, as usual, the Auditorium Parco della Musica), which will host the screening of over 130 films, documentaries and short films. Such a big offer will certainly satisfy the great number of cinema lovers that have purchased about 20,000 tickets after the first week of pre-sale, and that will probably book 2 stars hotels in Rome, a city that now can offer something more to its tourists. The secret of the success of the festival, which makes it differ from other film festivals, is to be found in the variety of its programme, which includes both cultured and popular films, both works realised by emerging artists and movies featuring great international stars. And the festival, indeed, does not attract only those who have a passion for the seventh art, but also those people that cannot be described as the regulars of film festivals, and who might decide to travel to Rome for reasons other than watching films.

The films projected during the Rome festival are traditionally divided in different categories: besides the official selection, which includes those films that compete for Marc’Aurelio Awards (best film, best actor, best actress, Silver Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Award), very interesting is also the section “L’altro cinema – Extra”, this year including a retrospective dedicated to Meryl Streep, the great American actress that has delighted and touched us with her brilliant performances, and who will be awarded the Golden Marc'Aurelio Acting Award during the festival, and a retrospective dedicated to Luigi Zampa (do not miss the screening of the restored version of “La Romana”, Zampa’s 1954 film starring Gina Lollobrigida). The section “Alice nella città”, including 12 films dedicated to children and kids, can be seen as a little festival inside the festival, in which budding film lovers will not be passive spectators, on the contrary, they will play an active role, awarding prizes to the best works. Last but not least, the section “Occhio sul mondo” will give visitors, who usually choose discount accommodation, the possibility to deal with some important nowadays issues. This year the focus will be on environment, with particular attention on climate change.

To make the programme of the event even richer and more diversified, many special events will take place during the festival: from the concert of Avion Travel, who will pay homage to Nino Rota 30 years after his death, playing 14 pieces taken from the soundtracks of some great movies, to various exhibitions (including one exhibition dedicated to Sergio Leone, one dedicated to Antonio Ligabue, and the exhibition “Cape Farewell: Art and Climate Change”), to a number of debates and workshops dealing with important themes about the world of cinema.

Tickets: various prices
Date: 15th – 23rd October 2009
Location: Rome, Italy

By: Michele De Capitani

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

This article was written by Francesca Tessarollo with support from hotel reservation systems. For any information, please visit Travel to Rome or for travel information have a look to discount accommodation.