The day after the Q&A with Leonardo DiCaprio, another encounters follows at the Theatre of Tor Bella Monaca (a working class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rome) and the packed stage features a part of what has been called a number of times “the best of youth of Italian cinema”: Silvio Muccino, Riccardo Scamarcio, Jasmine Trinca and Cristiana Capotondi.

The crowd in front of the theatre resembles a rock concert audience: the barricades are teeming with teenage girls screaming at their idols. Like a true rock star, Muccino stops along the red carpet to take a few pictures with his cell phone of the ecstatic crowd. The enthusiasm is through the roof and is certainly greater than the reaction evoked by the US actor yesterday, probably because the young fans identify more with the new talent of Italian cinema rather than with a serious American star speaking on environmental problems.

Once again, Mario Sesti, one of the directors of the RomeFilmFest, conducted the presentations and stated that, after many years, this is first generation of Italian actors to provoke identification, passion and dreams.

The Q&A, led by Sesti and Michele Placido, was interspersed by screened scenes from some of the films starring the young guests, ranging from Volevo solo dormirle addosso with Cristiana Capotondi to Crime Novel and Texas with Scamarcio, to Manual of Love to My Best Enemy, both featuring Muccino.

Sesti asked them about their experiences on the set, their relationship with their directors and how they become the characters they brought to the screen. Speaking of Carlo Verdone, his partner in several films, Muccino explained: “If comedy is spontaneous and unexpected in life, in cinema it’s a question of timing and rhythm, which are written and planned out in every detail. In this, Carlo is wonderful”.

When asked whether it was difficult to play the young sick girl in Marco Tullio Giordana’s The Best of Youth, Trinca, the young actress whose career was launched by Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room, said “it was very difficult but Luigi Lo Cascio, who is an excellent actor, and Marco Tullio Giordana helped me”.

Almost every word uttered by the young stars was followed by long applause, screams and declarations of love. The height of the euphoria came in reaction to images of Scamarcio in a nude scene with Valeria Golino in Fausto Paradivino’s Texas. “This is the second time you’ve invited me somewhere and embarrassed me by making me watch this scene,” joked Scamarcio with Sesti, before adding, “To shoot a nude scene without being embarrassed, you cannot leave anything to spontaneity”.

“Compliments to your mom and dad,” said a young female fan before asking him a question. Which pretty much summed up the evening’s spirit: a balance between the enthusiasm of unbridled teenagers and a short lesson on the art of acting.