Italiano
Tomorrow, Sunday October 17th, the sixteenth Rome Film Fest will feature, from the line-up of the Official Selection, the preview screening of Promises by Amanda Sthers: the film, which will be screened at 7 pm in Sala Sinopoli of the Auditorium Parco della Musica, is adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name written by Sthers herself, and is the story of Alexander, portrayed by Pierfrancesco Favino, a man with a difficult childhood behind him, who finally finds happiness with his wife and their daughter. When he meets Laura, who owns an art gallery and is about to be married, they understand from the very first glance that there is no turning back. But life seems to have different plans for them: between the choices they are unable to make and fate that seems to be working against them, their entire lives will be tormented by a feeling that devours them. Because a love that is never lived is a love that can never die.
At 10 pm, Sala Sinopoli will be the venue for the screening of One Second by Zhang Yimou, considered one of the greatest Chinese filmmakers, nominated three times for an Oscar® in the Best Foreign-Language Film category. In his latest film, a veritable tribute to cinema, to the silver screen and to love, the inmate Zhang Jiusheng escapes from a forced labour camp to attend the screening of a government propaganda newsreel in which, for just one second, he will be able to see his beloved daughter from times gone by, immortalised as a model student and worker; but before the screening, which should have been run by Fan, famed as the best projectionist in circulation, the newsreel is stolen, and Zhang Jiusheng soon meets the person who took it, a young homeless orphan, Liu Guinü, she too obsessed by her own terrible loss.
At 7:30 pm in Sala Petrassi the public is invited to view the screening of Mothering Sunday by Eva Husson, from the line-up of the “Everybody’s talking about it” section. “I have never felt so at home with another writer’s script, and suddenly, that script, written by Alice Birch, seemed to whisper in my ear, explained the director. It was a culmination of everything that I am obsessed with in life: writing, sex, and pure cinema. The opportunity to bring to the big screen the story of a ‘Doris Lessingesque’ writer. To explore the fragility and power of sex, love and the impact it has on an artist. To do that in some sort of holy feminine triumvirate composed of Alice Birch’s impeccable writing, Elizabeth Karlsen’s effortless charisma, and myself, is nothing short of an extraordinary privilege”.
In the same theatre at 10:30 pm, the screening will present Becoming Cousteau by Liz Garbus, who has filmed a documentary about Jacques-Yves Cousteau, his life, his films and everything that made him the most famous and iconic ecologist of the twentieth century. A filmmaker, explorer, environmentalist, inventor: for over forty years, his expeditions to the bottom of the oceans were an emblem of the love of nature and science. Over half a century ago, he raised prophetic alarms about climate change and the fragility of our planet. He won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award® for best documentary for The Silent World, which he directed with Louis Malle.
At 6:30 pm, from the line-up of the Official Selection, the MAXXI will host the screening of Mi novia es la revolución by Marcelino Islas Hernández. “For me, making films is always a personal act – explained the director – so I decided to make this film with my daughter Sofia who plays the main character in Mi novia es la revolución. This decision turns everything into a love letter, a family album that reflects the love and desire I have to see her grow up as a strong and confident woman. This film is also a return to the convulsive time when I grew up. 1994 was a very special year for my country. The main candidate running for president was assassinated, a Mexican guerrilla-revolution started in the jungle of Chiapas; and with all this effervescence happening, I was living and leaving my childhood in the most boring suburb of Mexico City. Coming back to this scenario almost twenty-five years later, and looking at my daughter, made me think that in many ways, growing up is inevitable”.
The Fest’s Retrospective continues, dedicated to Arthur Penn and curated by Mario Sesti: at 6 pm and at 8:30 pm, the Kodak and Deluxe theatres at the Casa del Cinema will host the screenings of Alice’s Restaurant and Little Big Man.
The cycle of screenings at the Teatro Palladium continues at 8 pm with the screening of Mediterráneo by Marcel Barrena, adapted from the true story of Òscar Camps – the founder of Open Arms.
At 6:30 pm, the Casa del Cinema will feature the screening of Pretty Woman, chosen by Giovanna Fulvi, member of the selection committee of the Rome Film Fest, as part of the Films of Our Lives programme. “It is a simply irresistible film – explains Fulvi. And years later, thirty-one to be exact, it remains a magical vision, a moment of pure entertainment”.
The programme at the independent bookstores continues: at 5 pm, at the Teatro San Leonardo, Acilia Libri presents the screening of the film Fortapàsc by Marco Risi for public of the Fest.
The programme presents an ample selection of repeat screenings. At the Auditorium Parco della Musica, in Sala Sinopoli at 4 pm, the public can see Passing, while the MAXXI will host the screenings of Farha and A Thousand Hours, respectively at 4 pm and at 9:30 pm. The MyCityPlex Savoy will host the repeat screenings, in Sala 1, of Cyrano (at 6 pm) and Les Jeunes Amants (at 9 pm); in Sala 2, of Charlotte (at 5:30 pm) and Benny Benassy – Equilibrio (at 8:30 pm). Scena will screen Oltre la vita delle forme (at 9 pm).
Starting tomorrow, Sunday October 17th, the Rome Film Fest goes on tour, and thanks to the Regione Lazio, makes stops in other cities in the region. At 7:30 pm, in the Sala Elpidio Benedetti at Poggio Mirteto, there will be a screening of the new film by Renzo Carbonera, Takeaway.
