2nd Cinema Rome Film Festival

Yesterday the second CINEMA. Festa Internazionale di Roma – RomeFilmFest started and will run until October 27, 2007. Last night the festival was open by beautiful Monica Bellucci and the premiere of Le Deuxieme Souffle (Second Wind) by Alain Corneau. Also Sophia Loren was given the Acting Award.

The festival will screen eighty movies and if you feel like checking the long list you will find here. There are many new movies in this festival, so I’ll try to list the films for each section. I say try as the festival site is not really user friendly and you have to browse many places to find the info organized as most fests do.

The festival has the following sections: Première, Cinema 2007, Extra and Alice in the City.

Première

Across the Universe by Julie Taymor, UK/US, 2007, 133’ Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs
The Dukes by Robert Davi, US, 2007, 94’ Cast: Robert Davi, Chazz Palminteri, Peter Bogdanovich, Miriam Margolyes
Elizabeth: The Golden Age by Shekhar Kapur, UK/France 2007, 106’ Cast: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen
Giorni e nuvole (Days and Clouds) by Silvio Soldini, Italy, 2007, 115’ Cast: Margherita Buy, Antonio Albanese, Alba Rohwacher, Giuseppe Battiston
Youth Without Youth by Francis Ford Coppola, Germany/Italy/France, 2007, 124’ - World Premiere. Cast: Tim Roth, Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara
Into the Wild by Sean Penn, US, 2007, 148’ Cast: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn
Noise by Henry Bean, Martin Schmidt, US, 2007, 92’ Cast: Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, William Baldwin, William Hurt
Rendition by Gavin Hood, US, 2007, 122’ Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Omar Metwally
Silk by François Girard, Canada/Italy/Japan, 2007, 112’ Cast: Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Alfred Molina
Things We Lost in the Fire by Susanne Bier, US, 2007, 119’ Cast: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Alison Lohman

Première / Alice in The City Events and Films
August Rush by Kirsten Sheridan, US, 2007 - World Premiere Cast: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell
A 35-minute preview of: Winx – il film: il segreto del regno perduto by Iginio Straffi, Italy, 2007 - - World Premiere Characters: Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Aisha
Enchanted by Kevin Lima, US, 2007 Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon

Première Special Event - Argento Night
Marathon of the Three Mothers Trilogy Screening of Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980) and the European Premiere of La Terza Madre (Mother of Tears) by Dario Argento, Italy, 2007, 98’ Cast: Asia Argento, Moran Atias, Daria Nicolodi, Udo Kier
The all-powerful Mater Lacrimarum, mother of tears, is accidentally awoken from her eternal sleep by an American student and she calls witches from around the world to gather in Rome. This third chapter in the Mothers trilogy started with Suspiria (Mater Suspiriorum) in 1977 and followed in 1980 by Inferno (Mater Tenebrarum) is the film that countless Argento fans have been waiting to see for years. (Gee, have to see this!!)

Cinema 2007

Special event – homage to Gilles Jacob
Anna Magnani, lupa romana
Chacun son Cinéma
On the occasion of the RomeFilmFest, the President of the Cannes Film Festival, Gilles Jacob wanted to salute Italian cinema and the Fest with a cameo, in an emotional vein, dedicated to the Italian actress who, in his cinephile memory, recapitulates both the soul of a cinematography and the city of cinema. At the same time Gilles Jacob will present and personally comment on the new version of the collective film Chacun son cinéma,
a touching trip through memory and “passion for cinéma”.

Cinema 2007 Selection

In Competition

Barcelona, Un Mapa (Barcelona, a Map) by Ventura Pons, Spain 2007, 90’ - European Premiere Cast: Núria Espert, Josep Maria Pou, Rosa Maria Sardà, Jordi Bosch
Caotica Ana (Chaotic Ana) by Julio Medem, Spain 2007, 119’ – European Premiere Cast: Manuela Velles, Bebe, Charlotte Rampling, Matthias Habbich
Ce que mes yeux ont vu (The Vanishing Point) by Laurent De Bartillat, France 2007, 79’- World Premiere Cast: Sylvie Testud, James Thierre, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Agathe Dronne
El pasado (The Past) by Hector Babenco, Argentina – Brazil 2007, 114’ – European Premiere Cast: Gael Garçia Bernal, Analia Couceyro, Moro Anghileri, Ana Celentano.
Fugitive Pieces by Jeremy Podeswa, Canada 2007, 104’ – International Premiere Cast: Stephen Dillane, Rade Serbedzija, Rosamund Pike, Ayelet Zurer
Hafez by Abolfazl Jalili, Iran – Japan 2007, 98’ – World Premiere Cast: Mehdi Moradi, Kumiko Aso
Juno by Jason Reitman, US 2007, 92’ – European Premiere Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Olivia Thirlby
La giusta distanza (The Right Distance) by Carlo Mazzacurati, Italy 2007, 110’ – World Premiere Cast: Giovanni Capovilla, Ahmed Haflene, Valentina Lodovini, Giuseppe Battiston, Fabrizio Bentivoglio
Le deuxième souffle (Second Wind) by Alain Corneau, France 2007, 155’ – European Premiere Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Monica Bellucci, Michel Blanc, Jacques Dutronc, Eric Cantona, Daniel Duval
Li Chun (And the Spring Comes) by Chang Wei Gu, China 2007, 105’ – World Premiere
Cast: Jiang Wenli, Li Guangjie, Dong Xuan, Jiaogang, Zhangyao
L’amour caché (Hidden Love) by Alessandro Capone, Luxembourg – Belgium – Italy, 2007, 92’ – European Premiere Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Greta Scacchi, Mélanie Laurent, Olivier Gourmet
L’uomo privato (The Private Man)by Emidio Greco, Italy 2007, 100’ – World Premiere Cast:Tommaso Ragno, Miriam Catania, Giulio Pampiglione, Ennio Coltorti, Catherine Spaak
Mongol by Sergei Bodrov, Russia – Mongolia – Kazakhistan - Germany 2007, 125’ – European Premiere Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Khulan Chuluun, Sun Hong Lei

Out of Competition

L’abbuffata by Mimmo Calopresti, Italy 2006, 100’ – World Premiere Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Diego Abatantuono, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Donatella Finocchiaro, Nino Frassica
Lions for Lambs by Robert Redford, US 2007, 91’ – Co-world Premiere Cast: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Michael Peña, Derek Luke, Peter Berg
Reservation Road by Terry George, US 2007, 102’ – European Premiere Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino.

Out of Competition – Special event
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead by Sidney Lumet, USA 2007, 123’ Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei

Out of Competition – Special event tribute to Raúl Ruiz
La recta provincia by Raul Ruiz, Chile – France 2007, 120’ – World Premiere Cast: Belgica Castro, Ignacio Aguero, Hernan Vallejos

Out of Competition – Special event German Days
Liebesleben (Love Life) by Maria Schrader, Germany 2007, 104’ – World Premiere Cast: Netta Gartl, Rade Serbedzija, Tovah Feldshuh, Stephen Singer

Out of Competition – Special event Focus India
No Smoking…! by Anurag Kashyap, India 2007, 150’ – World Premiere Cast: John Abraham, Ayesha Takla, Paresh Rawal.

Out of Competition – Special event CINEMA 2007 / Alice in the City
On dirait que… (Let’s Say) by Françoise Maire. France 2007, 82’ – World Premiere Cast: a group of French children aged between 8 and 10

Extra
This section is designed to put a multi-faceted focus on the new frontiers opened up by those who are creating something fresh and different in the audiovisual field, from documentaries to trend setting feature films, from cutting-edge television programs to digital animation, from film restoration to new high-definition cinema. To check the list of films, documentaries and videos go here.

Alice nella Cittá (Alice in the City)

Films in Competition

Un Chateau en Espagne (My Very Best Friend) by Isabelle Doval, France 2007, 90’ – World Premiere Cast: Anne Brochet, Angela Molina, Lluis Omar, Jean Senejoux (Maxime), Martin Jobert (Esteban)
Have Dreams, Will Travel by Brad Isaacs, USA 2007, 85’ – World Premiere Cast: Anna-Sophia Robb, Cayden Boyd, Val Kilmer, Lara Flynn-Boyle, Dylan McDermott, Matthew Modine, Heather Graham
Buda Az Sharm Foru Rikht (Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame) By Hana Makhmalbaf, Iran 2007, 81’ Cast: Nikbakht Noruz, Abdoladi Hoseinali, Abbas Alijome
And When Did You Last See Your Father? by Anand Tucker, UK 2007, 88’ Cast: Jim Broadbent, Colin Firth, Juliet Stevenson, Gina McKee, Matthew Beard
Seachd – The Inaccessible Pinnacle by Simon Miller, Scotland 2007, 90’
Cast: Pàdruig Moireasdan, Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul, Colla Dòmhnallach, Winnie Brook Young
Choose Connor by Luke Eberl, USA 2007, 114’ Cast: Steven Weber, Alex Linz, Escher Holloway, Erick Avari, Christopher Marquette, Don McManus, Rosalee Mayeux, April Grace, John Rubinstein, Richard Rehile
Canvas by Joseph Greco, USA 2006, 101’ Cast: Joe Pantoliano, Marcia Gay Harden, Devon Gearhart
La tete de maman (In Mom’s Head) By Carine Tardieu, France 2006, 95’ Cast: Karin Viard, Kad Merad, Pascal Elbè, Chloé Colloud, Jane Birkin, Jérome Kircher, Sarah Cohen-Hadria, Arthur Ligerot, Suzy
La misma luna (Under the Same Moon) by Patricia Riggen, Mexico – USA 2007, 109’ Cast: Adrian Alonso, Kate del Castillo, Eugenio Derbez, Maya Zapata, America Ferrara
Partes Usadas (Spare Parts) by Aaron Fernandez, Mexico – France 20007, 95’ Cast: Eduardo Granados, Alan Chavez, Carlos Ceja
Survivre avec les loups (Survive With the Wolves) by Véra Belmont, France 2007, 90’ Cast: Mathilde Goffart, Guy Bedos, Michèle Bernier, Yael Abecassis, Benno Furmann, Anne-Marie Philipe, Franck de la Personne
September by Peter Carstairs, Australia 2007, 85’ Cast: Clarence John Ryan, Xavier Samuel, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Kelton Pell
Toku no sora ni keita (Into the Faraway Sky) by Isao Yukisada, Japan 2007, 144’ Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Suzuka Ohgo, Yuma Sasano, Ayumi Ito, Fumiyo Kohinata
Noonbushin Narae (Meet Mr. Daddy) by Kwang Su Park, South Korea 2007, 110’ Cast: Park Shin Yang, Yea Ji Won, Seo Shin Ae

ALICE IN THE CITY: Special Events Out of Competition
Pride by Sunu Gonera, USA 2007, 104’ Cast: Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac, Tom Arnold, Kimberlie Elisa, Brandon Fobbs
Die drei rauber (The Three Robbers) by Hayo Freitag, animation, Germany 2007, 75’ - World Premiere

There are some Special Events like the following.

Focus India with special screenings of
Guru by Mani Ratman
Gandhi, My Father by Feroz Abbas Khan
Khoya Khoya Chand by Sudhir Mishra
Has many more previous to 2007 India movies in the India at Filmstudio section that you can check here.

German Days organized by German Films to run from October 21st to 24th will screen the following premieres:
The Red Elvis, Leopold Grün
The Calling Game, Felix Randau
Fata Morgana, Simon Gross
Free Rainer – Reclaim Your Brain, Hans Weingartner
Love Comes Lately, Jan Shüte
Nothing Else Matters, Julia von Heinz (Shown within the framework of the New Cinema Network. If you live in Rome do not miss this movie that you can find in My Wish List)

This is a long post and I tend to dislike long posts, so I will open new posts for other information that I find interesting. If you want to explore their site in English go here.