13/10/2006

Packed hotels, sold out screenings, mountains of merchandising and a sponsorship even by the t-shirts of the Roma football club players: the rendezvous with the first edition of the RomeFilmFest (October 13-21) is one of the most anticipated events in the capital.

It is also an event that follows shortly after the Venice Film Festival, for which there has been no shortage of controversy (the Financial Times even called it a "civil war" but the Rome festival, upon request by the Minister of Culture Francesco Rutelli, has agreed to choose a time of the year not so close to Venice).

The first star to walk down the red carpet tonight at the opening ceremonies will be Nicole Kidman, who plays the great photographer of "freaks" Diane Arbus in Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus by Steven Shainberg, which was received by lukewarm applause at the press screening this morning.

There are two official screenings of the film tonight: at 8pm, which the actress will attend, and at 9:30 pm at the PalaRomaUno, the tent cinema in Via Norvegia.

As the festival is open to all, a ticket to the film's screening also allows spectators to attend the "red carpet" activities at the Parco della musica at 7:30 pm.

While the festival will present other US titles (including the latest labour of love by Martin Scorsese), it is interesting to note that there are no US films in competition and that, with the exception of Fur, the US productions in the prestigious Premiere section have all been directed by non-Americans: Swedish director Lasse Hallström, India's Mira Nair and UK filmmaker Christopher Nolan.

(Translated from Italian)