All world premieres for the films that will open and close the Rome International Film Festival, which runs from October 22^nd to 31^st. Inaugurating the third edition of the festival will be L’uomo che ama directed by Maria Sole Tognazzi, starring Monica Bellucci, Pierfrancesco Favino, Kseniya Rappoport, and Piera Degli Esposti; and Huit/Eight, the international film inspired to the 8 Millenium Development Goals decided by the members of the United Nations as part of its campaign to end global poverty, directed by eight world-famous filmmakers: Jane Campion, Gael Garcia Bernal, Jan Kounen, Mira Nair, Gaspar Noé, Abderrahmane Sissako, Gus Van Sant, and Wim Wenders.

The film closing the festival, to be screened immediately after the awards ceremony, and based on an idea of Roberto Rossellini’s, is L’ultimo Pulcinella, directed by Maurizio Scaparro and starring Massimo Ranieri.

The second of two Marc’Aurelio Alla Carriera – Acting Awards, after the one bestowed on the Actors Studio, to be collected by Al Pacino, this year goes to Gina Lollobrigida for her significant contributions to Italian cinema over the course of her 60-year-long career.

Other Italian films selected for the various festival sections include Il passato è una terra straniera, by Daniele Vicari, starring Elio Germano, Valentina Lodovini, and Chiara Caselli.