Rome, October 17 - The 13th edition of the Rome Film Festival kicking off Thursday will focus on high-quality films and meetings between film stars and experts and the public. This year's edition lays claim to the event's identity - a fest with no international jury or official selection, except for a prize awarded by the public and an emphasis on movies regardless of whether they have been screened before. The festival, the fourth directed by Antonio Monda, runs through October 28. Two Italian films are running for the award: 'Il vizio della speranza' (the vice of hope) by Edoardo De Angelis and 'Diario di tonnara' (diary of tuna-fishing) by Giovanni Zoppeddu. Another Italian co-production is 'Corleone il potere e il sangue' (Corleone the power and blood) by Mosco Levi Boucault with Maya Sansa's reciting voice. Also, a special closing event will be the screening of 'Notti magiche' (magic nights) by Paolo Virzì which talks about the dramatic soccer match between the national Italian and Argentine teams in 1990 when Italy was eliminated from the world cup on penalties in the semi-finals. Events will include meetings with Giuseppe Tornatore, Alba and Alice Rohrwacher, directors of photography Luciano Tovoli and Arnaldo Catinari, and film editors Esmeralda Calabria and Giogiò Franchini. Also in attendance will be Martin Scorsese, Isabelle Huppert, Cate Blanchett, Michael Moore (who will present his latest work 'Fahrenheit 11/9' on Donald Trump) and Sigourney Weaver. Monda has stressed the importance of two major previews worldwide: 'Millennium - What doesn't kill' (with Claire Foy, who is expected in Rome) and 'Mia and the white lion' by Gilles de Maistre. Other films will include 'If Beale Street Could Talk' by Barry Jenkins (Oscar for Moonlight, who attended the Rome film fest in 2016) and the latest chapter in Steve Carell's saga Beautiful Boy as a father trying to save his son (Timothée Chalamet) from drug addiction. 'The Old Man & the Gun', the latest film by Robert Redford, will be screened along with the biopic 'Stanley and Ollie' with John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan (both expected in Rome). An homage will be paid to Vittorio Taviani, Ermanno Olmi, Carlo Vanzina, Milos Forman and Vittorio Gassman with the screening of a documentary by Fabrizio Corallo: 'Sono Gassman! Vittorio re della commedia' (I am Gassman! Vittorio the king of comedy). Restored films to be screened at the festival will include: 'L'amore molesto' (harassing love) by Mario Martone, who will also discuss the work of novelist Elena Ferrante, the author of the book on which the film is based; 'Italiani brava gente' (Italians good people) by Giuseppe De Santis and an homage to Vittorio Taviani with 'San Michele aveva un gallo' (St Michael had a rooster), presented by Martin Scorsese who will be given an award by director Paolo Taviani. Also planned are the restored versions of 'Il tempo si è fermato' (time has stopped) to celebrate Ermanno Olmi and 'La grande guerra' (the great war) by Mario Monicelli, whose screening will be attended by President Sergio Mattarella. The neo-noir genre will be a common theme of this year's edition of the festival which will celebrate the power of memory through documentaries. The festival has also been at the center of a minor controversy after the artistic director of the Venice film festival Alberto Barbera told Vanity Fair in an interview that the event is a "local" one. Monda slammed the comment as "bad taste" but Barbera later tweeted that he was tired of hearing claims by organizers of the Rome film festival that it included many women artists, contrary to Venice. "Tired of reading that #Venice75 only had one film with a woman director - there were 23 across various sections. At #romacinemafest I counted 12", Barbera tweeted.
