7th Rome Film Festival Lineup - Update 2

On November 11 was announced the second surprise film and is Du Zhan (Drug War) by Johnnie To. With this film the main competition has 15 films.

Today November 5th, the first of the two surprise films was announced and is a film by Feng Xiaogang (remember Aftershock?), check trailer to see that is another epic grandiose production, use link at the bottom of post.

Today, October 31, organizers announced complete Jury for the main competition and two more films in the official selection out of competition.

Post has the Cinema XXI complete lineup.

Some of us are very curious to learn how the festival will evolve under the artistic direction of recently appointed Marco Müller; this year official selection will give us a first glimpse on what he was able to do to revitalize the festival and maybe bring it to a different level than before, more similar to the big three festivals.

With no further comments let's take a look at this year festival lineup.

Official Selection

Competition
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Roman Coppola, USA
Aku no kyôten (Lesson of Evil), Takashi Miike, Japan
Alì ha gli occhi azzurri, Claudio Giovannesi, Italy
毒战 Du Zhan (Drug War), Johnnie To, China and Hong Kong
E la Chiamano Estate, Paolo Franchi, Italy
Ixjana, Józef Skolimowski and Michał Skolimowski, Poland (aka Ixjana z piekla rodem)
Mai Morire, Enrique Rivero, Mexico
Main Dans La Main (Hand in Hand), Valérie Donzelli, France
Marfa Girl, Larry Clark, USA
The Motel Life, Gabriel Polsky and Alan Polsky, USA
Небесные жены луговых мари Nebesnye Ženy Lugovykh Mari (Celestial Wives of Meadow Mari), Alexey Fedorchenko, Russia
Un Enfant de Toi (You, Me and US), Jacques Doillon, France
Вечное возвращение. Кинопробы Večnoe Vozvraščenie (Eternal Homecoming), Kira Muratova, Ukraine
Il Volto di Un'Altra, Pappi Corsicato, Italy
一九四二 Yi Wu Si Er (Back to 1942), Feng Xiaogang, China

Also there are two (2) surprise films (will be in competition, titles are being withheld until last minute "in order to avoid problems from national censors")

Jury
President: Jeff Nichols, writer and director, USA
Timur Bekmambetov, director and producer, Russia, Kazakhstan
Valentina Cervi, actress, Italy
Chris Fujiwara, critic and festival director, USA
Leila Hatami, actress, Iran
P.J. Hogan, director, Australia
Edgardo Cozarinsky, writer and director, Argentina

Out of Competition
Opening Film: В ожидании моря V Ožidanii Morja (Waiting for the Sea), Bakhtiar Khudojnazarov, Russia, Germany, Belgium, France, Kazakhstan and Ukraine
Closing Film: Una Pistola en Cada Mano, Cesc Gay, Spain

La Bande de Jotas (The Gang of the Jotas), Marjane Satrapi, France
Black Star, Francesco Castellani, Italy
Bullet to the Head, Walter Hill, USA
Le Guetteur (The Lookout), Michele Placido, France
Mental, P.J. Hogan, Australia
Populaire, Regis Roinsard, France
Rise of the Guardians, Peter Ramsey, USA
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Bill Condon, USA
Tom le Cancre, Manuel Pradal, France

CinemaXXI
A competitive selection of films devoted to new trends in world cinema embracing various genres and lengths, CinemaXXI will focus on works that reflect the continuous reinvention of cinema in the contemporary audiovisual landscape. CinemaXXI (Competition and Out of Competition) welcomes feature-length, medium-length and short films.

Feature Films

In Competition
A Walk In The Park, Amos Poe, USA
Avanti Popolo, Michael Wahrmann, Brazil
Bloody Daughter, Stéphanie Argerich, France and Switzerland
Gegewart (Consequence), Thomas Heise, Germany
Goltzius and the Pelican Company, Peter Greenaway, Netherlands
Jianshi Liu Baiyuan (Judge Archer), Xu Haofeng, China
Jungle Love, Sherad Anthony Sanchez, Philippines
Nichnasti Pa'am Lagan (Once I Entered A Garden), Avi Mograbi, Israel, France and Switzerland
El Ojo del Tiburon, Alejo Hoijman, Spain and Argentina
Panihida, Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu, Germany and Moldavia
Photo, Carlos Saboga, Portugal and France
Picas (Pizzas), Laila Pakalnina, Latvia
Suspension of Disbelief, Mike Figgis, UK
Танец Дели Tanets Deli (Delhi Dance), Ivan Vyrypaev, Russia
Tasher Desh, Kaushik Mukherjee, India
Tutto Parla Di Te, Alina Marazzi, Italy

Out of Competition
O Batuque Dos Astros, Julio Bressane, Brazil
O Fantasma Do Novais, Margarida Gil, Portugal

Short Film Collections

In Competition
Tar, Edna Biesold, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Bruce Thierry Cheung, Gabrielle Demeestere, Alexis
Gamb; supervision James Franco, USA

Out of Competition
Opening Film: Centro Histórico (Historic Centre), Aki Kaurismäki, Pedro Costa, Victor Erice, Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal
Guimaraes Transversal, Gabriel Abrantes, Maracos Barbosa and Paulo Abreu, Portugal
Historias de Guimaraes, Tiago Pereira, João Nicolau, João Botelho, Portugal
Mundo Invisível (Invisible World), Wim Wenders, Theo Angelopoulos, Atom Egoyan, Manoel De Oliveira, Guy Maddin, Marco Bechis, Laís Bodanzky, Maria de Medeiros, Jerzy Stuhr, Gian Vittorio Baldi, Brazil
Random Acts, Marina Abramovic, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Zineb Sedira, Johan Grimonprez, Shahryar Nashat, Lucy Harvey, Rachel Mayeri, Lewis Klahr, Mark Leckey, Semiconductor, Sarah Wood, Young-Hae Chang, Richard Billingham and others, UK

Medium-Length and Short Films

In Competition
Da Vinci, Yuri Ancarani, Italy, 20’
Dossier Scolaire (School Files), di Noëlle Pujol and Andreas Bolm, France and Germany, 21’
Dreams, James Franco, UK, 1’
El Ruido de las Estrellas Me Aturde, Eduardo Williams, Argentina, 20’
Eternità, Galina Myznikova and Sergey Provorov (Provmyza), Russia, 36'
GHL, Lotte Schreiber, Austria, 17’
Ishi to uta to Peta (Stone, Song and Peta), Takuya Dairiki and Takashi Miura, France and Japan, 60'
La Madre, Il Figlio e L'Architetto (The Mother, The Son and The Architect), Petra Noordkamp, Netherlands, 16'
Mitote (Mexican Ritual), Eugenio Polgovsky, Mexico, 53'
Montaña en Sombra (Mountain In Shadow), Lois Patiño, Spain, 14'
The Moon Has Its Reasons, Lewis Klahr, UK, 3'
The Museum of Imagination, Amit Dutta, India, 20'
Não estamos sonhando (We are Not Dreaming), Luiz Pretti, Brazil, 12'
Narmada, Manon Ott and Grégory Cohen, France, 47'
Nature of Aberration, Krissakorn Thinthupthai, Thailand, 13'
The Ogre's Feathers, Michael Almereyda, USA, 20'
Quatro Horas Descalço (Four Hours Barefoot), Ico Costa, France and Portugal, 15'
Rhinoceros, Kevin Jerome Everson, USA, 6'
Some Part Of Us Will Have Become, Semiconductor, UK, 3'
Tagalog, Gym Lumbera, Philippines, 45'
I Topi Lasciano La Nave, Zapruder, Italy, 32'
Il Viaggio della Signorina Vila, Elisabetta Sgarbi, Italy, 60'
Waterscope Transitions, Carsten Aschmann, Germany, 22'

Out of Competition
Steekspel (Tricked), Paul Verhoeven, Netherlands, 52'
All Sides of the Road 3D, OpenEndedGroup, USA, 12'
Plant 3D, OpenEndedGroup, USA, 17'
Pletora, Il Dono 3D, Zapruder, Italy, 15
Tanti Futuri Possibili. Con Renato Nicolini, Gianfranco Rosi, Italy, 30'
Waves 3D, OpenEndedGroup, USA, 2'

Jury
President: Douglas Gordon, visual artist, UK
Hans Hurch, film programmer, Austria
Ed Lachman, cinematographer, Germany
Andrea Lissoni, historian, curator, festival director, Italy
Emily Jacir, director, social intervention, performance, more,

Best First and Second Film Jury
President: Matthew Modine, director and actor, USA
Laura Amelia Guzmán, producer and Director, Dominican Republic
Stefania Rocca, actress, Italy
Alice Rohrwacher, director, Italy
Tanya Seghatchian, producer, UK

Independent Section - Alice Nella Città

Competition
Animals, Marçal Forés, Spain
Baby Girl, Macdara Vallely, USA
Comme Un Lion (Little Lion), Samuel Collardey, France
Igual Si Llueve (Even If It Rains), Fernando A. Gatti, Argentina
Innocents, Chen-hsi Wong, Singapore
Jeunesse (Youth), Justine Malle, France
Kid, Fien Troch, Belgium
La Pasion de Michelangelo (The Passion of Michelangelo), Esteban Larraín, Chile
Meu Pe de Laranja Lima (My Sweet Orange Tree), Marcos Berstein, Brazil
Pulce Non C'E, Giuseppe Bonito, Italy
Strings, Rob Savage, UK
You and Me Forever, Kaspar Munk, Denmark

Out of Competition
Du Vent Dans Mes Mollets (The Dandelions), Carine Tardieu, France
Wreck-It Ralph, Rich Moore, USA

Special Program
Kirikou et Les Homes et Les Femes (Kirikou - And The Men And Women), Michel Ocelot, France
Le Petit Prince - La Planete Su Serpent, Pierre-Alain Chartier, France

New Cinema Network
This year NCN presents a selection of 20 projects from all over the world, evaluated and chosen by the selection committee appointed by Marco Müller, Marie-Pierre Duhamel and Sandra Hebron with the staff of New Cinema Network. As for the international scene, the projects selection features an ample spectrum of countries, themes, styles, genres and suggestions. There are projects by some very well-known outstanding directors like Marco Bellochio, Lisandro Alonso and Jia Zang ke

Almost Anonymous, Jia Zhang ke, China
Another World, Alexis Dos Santos, Argentina
Close Far Away, Jens Assur, Sweden
Conformista, Shangjun Cai, China
Io, Clay Jeter, USA
Iron, Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, Chile
Land, Babak Jalali, UK
Mordogan, Jessica Krummaker, Germany
Pagliacci, Marco Bellocchio, Italia
Poisonous Roses, Fawzi Saleh, Egypt
The Room On A Tree, Amit Dutta, India
School Town, Jian Liu, China
Sin Titulo, Lisandro Alonso, Argentina
Il Sogno del Pesce Rosso, Gianni Cardillo, Italy
Sword of Honor, Haofeng Xu, China
Tito Il Piccolo, Paola Randi, Italy
La Vita Ti Arriva Addosso, Paolo Sassanelli, Italy
The Vacationers, Luis Galter, Spain
Vergine Giurata, laura Bispuri, Italy
A Project (TBA), Franco Maresco, Italy

To check the official announcement that includes more films and events in the independent sections plus in the official selection Prospettive Italia, go here. Suggest to also check official site as there are more films listed there.

My first impression without reading about each film is that the festival has changed as seems there are a few more known directors releasing their films in the festival plus this time festival seems to have films from more countries around the world.

According to the released information here are some interesting figures from this edition:
Feature Films: 59 world premieres and 5 international premieres, for a total of 64 feature films
12 Medium-length films
23 Short films
These numbers really change the panorama for this festival, especially when you consider that the 13 films in competition are all world premieres.

Surely I am very curious about this year festival and posted too early as there is no films info at the official site yet. So I will be checking and updating post as soon as they publish information.

Check info and trailers @MOC.