Monica Bellucci and Jude Law
will be among the stars to grace the Rome Film Festival when it
kicks off Friday evening.
However the pair will receive a rather low-key welcome in
the Eternal City, once nicknamed 'Hollywood on the Tiber' due to
the hive of cinematic activity in the 50s and 60s.
There will be no red carpet and few parties at the event,
while the only prizes will be assigned by a popular jury at the
event, which lasts until October 24.
Instead the films will be the primary focus and all eyes
will be on James Vanderbilt's The Truth as it opens proceedings
tonight.
The film's leading actors, Cate Blanchett and Robert
Redford, will not be attending however.
On Saturday, attention will turn to Jude Law, who features
in Paolo Sorrentino's The Young Pope, and Monica Bellucci, who
stars in Ville-Marie by Guy Édoin, alongside the dog from Belle
and Sebastien 2.
Highlights of the festival also include 11 'meetings' set
up between leading players in the worlds of film and culture. At
the Auditorium Parco della Musica, director Wes Anderson will
appear with bestselling author Donna Tartt, there will be
husband and wife duo Francesc MdDormand and Joel Coen, the
horror film duo William Friedkin and Dario Argento and Italian
star performers Carlo Verdone and Paola Cortellesi.
There will also be one-two-ones with Paolo Villaggio, the
Italian actor and comedian who is celebrating 40 years since the
birth of the legendary character Ugo Fantozzi; conductor
Riccardo Muti and architect Renzo Piano, who built London's
Shard skyscraper. Renowned Italian film director Paolo
Sorrentino will also be present.
Perhaps the most unexpected guest is tightrope walker
Philippe Petit, famed for walking 400 metres in the air above
the twin towers. The stunt inspired the film 'The Walk' by Bob
Zemeckis and featuring Joseph Gordon Lewitt.
Although many of the leading films' protagonists such as
Julianne Moore (stars in Truth) and Wynona Ryder (features in
Experimenter), will be missing, Ellen page will be in
attendance.
Italian film royalty will also be turning up for the event,
as might be expected. Guests include Elio Germano, Fabrizio
Bentivoglio, Isabella Ragonese and Pierfrancesco Dilibert,
nicknamed Pif.
Among the few parties that will take place, most are
already sold out. On Saturday night, the Vanity 'Cinema' event
at the Boscolo Hotel will showcase the celebrity photographs of
Simon; Tuesday 20 will see a Studio 54 themed party at the Hotel
Mood; Wednesday 21 the work of Massimiliano Fuksas will be at La
Lanterna venue in Rome and the ex Military Union building on Via
Tomacelli will hold a charity gala; and Thursday 22 will see a
celebration of the recently restored film, La Terrazza, by
Ettore Scola, at the stunning Terrazza Caffarelli venue in the
Campidoglio.
Finally, on Friday 23, the charity event 'Together for
Nepal' will be held at Cinecitta, organised by Désirée
Colapietro, with help from Cinecitta studios. The aim is to
raise money for the emergency situation in Nepal following the
two earthquakes earlier this year.
photo: Jude Law in The Young Pope
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