#RomaFF14 | “Il ladro di giorni” is the first Italian film in the Official Selection of the fourteenth Rome Film Fest

Il ladro di giorni is the first Italian film in the Official Selection of the fourteenth Rome Film Fest: tomorrow Sunday October 20^th at 7:30 pm, Sala Sinopoli in the Auditorium Parco della Musica will host the world premiere screening of the new film by Guido Lombardi, the director and screenwriter who also presented his sophomore film, Take Five, in Rome. Il ladro di giorni is the story of an encounter between a child who is just beginning to go out into the world and a man who comes back to it after years of prison – explains the author. Between a son who has almost forgotten that he has a father and a father who finds it difficult to recognize his son in that child“. In the film, Salvo is eleven years old, and lives with his uncle and aunt in the Trentino region. On the day of his First Communion, while he is playing ball with his friends, a man suddenly appears at the edge of the field, it’s his father Vincenzo. Salvo barely recognizes him, in fact he hasn’t seen him in seven years, ever since two Carabinieri took him away from their home in Apulia. Vincenzo has been released from prison. He says he wants to spend a few days with his son, and departs with him headed south. On the long drive across Italy, which brings many encounters and revives memories, Salvo gets to know his father but will also have to come to terms with his secrets and his past.
At 8 pm, for the “Everyone is Talking About It” section, the screening will feature La Belle Époque by Nicolas Bedos, one of the most acclaimed surprises of the season, a refined film that deals with the theme of nostalgia with an ironic and original approach. Victor is stuck in his ways and abhors the digital present. When an eccentric entrepreneur offers him the chance to relive the most wonderful day of his life, using film sets, extras and some studio make-up, Victor has no doubts: he chooses to return to Lyon on May 16^th 1974, the day he met the love of his life. The star of the film, Fanny Ardant, will be on the red carpet at 7:30 pm beside the director. Fanny Ardant will also be featured in a Close Encounter to be held at 5 pm at the Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna Sala SIAE, during which she will review her career. A woman of lively intelligence and refined beauty, she became established as the ideal protagonist of rich sentimental dramas with psychological depth, playing multifaceted and enigmatic characters, often enhanced by a sensual insolence. She was unforgettable in the role of the woman next door beside Gérard Depardieu in the film by François Truffaut.
In the programme of Close Encounters, taking the stage of the Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna Sala SIAE at 3 pm will be one of the indisputable protagonists of contemporary international literature, writer Bret Easton Ellis, the author of a series of best-sellers that have left their mark on the last two decades of the past century, including “Less than Zero”, “Lunar Park”, “Glamorama” and his most significant work “American Psycho”. His novels have often been adapted for the big screen, for which he has also worked a screenwriter and executive producer.
The Official Selection of the Rome Film Fest will feature three other films on the calendar for Sunday October 20^th. At 9:30 pm, there will be a screening of Rewind by Sasha Joseph Neulinger. Based on his personal memories, the director reviews his childhood and the events that shattered his apparently perfect world. For as long as Neulinger can remember, his father used to film everything, constantly, from birthdays to hockey games to holidays. But his camera, trained on the frequent gatherings of a tight-knit family, was also documenting a hidden secret, the revelation of which would lead to a media firestorm, a high-stakes court battle, and a generational reckoning.
At 10 pm (Sala Sinopoli), the featured film will be Honey Boy by Alma Har’el, about the life of a young actor, from his troubled childhood to early adulthood. He does everything he can think of to come to understand and reconcile with his father. With a screenplay written by the talented and controversial actor Shia LaBeouf, based on his own personal experiences, this highly contentious film won an award at the most recent Sundance Film Festival.
At 10:30 pm the  Sala Petrassi, will host the world premiere screening of Drowning by Melora Walters, the new film starring Mira Sorvino, who will walk the red carpet of the Fest with the director and cast, which includes Gil Bellows and Christopher Backus. In the film, a mother is forced to come to grips with her suffering when, despite her worst fears and her best efforts to dissuade her son, he decides to join the army and go fight in Iraq. This is truly a nightmare scenario for any mother, and it’s made even worse when the young man gets posted to Mosul for the ‘final battle’.
At 11:30 am, the Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna Sala SIAE will host the screening of UglyDolls by Kelly Asbury. Moxy and his doll friends are rearing for an adventure. In a colorful imaginary world, a motley crew of dolls who are round, soft and plush will have to summon up the courage to face their biggest challenge: find a child they can love. To ace this, they will have to defy the leader who reigns supreme at the Institute of Perfection, doll boss Lou.
Emiliano Morreale and Caterina D’Amico will be at the MACRO Asilo at 6 pm for the Duel section: the two will debate their diverging opinions on Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. At 8 pm, Valerio Magrelli will comment on the film adaptation of the short story “Stage to Lordsburg” which John Ford brought to the silver screen in one of his masterpieces, Stagecoach.
The Auditorium at the MAXXI Museum, at 7 pm, will be the venue for the screening of Il manoscritto del principe, restored by the CDC – Cineteca Nazionale based on the original 35mm negative and the sound negative provided by Francesco and Giuseppe Tornatore. The entire restoration process, which took place at the Studio Emme in Rome, was approved by director Roberto Andò. In the theatre, the director himself and Giuseppe Tornatore will introduce the screening.
In the same theatre, at 9:30 pm, audiences are invited to see Ishibumi, a film from the retrospective dedicated to Kore-eda Hirokazu. The film tells the tragic story of 321 students of a middle school in Hiroshima who were killed by the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, while they were carrying out a safety drill designed to protect them from attacks by the United States.
The work of Max Ophüls, the protagonist of the second retrospective, will be the focus of a masterclass with Serge Toubiana, Giorgio Gosetti and Mario Sesti which will take place at the Casa del Cinema at 6 pm. Considered one of the most brilliant and sophisticated auteurs in the history of the seventh art, Max Ophüls was an essential point of reference for many filmmakers, including Stanley Kubrick who looked to the master for his technique. After the masterclass, there will be screenings of two of the German master’s films, Madame de… (8 pm) and La ronde (10 pm).
My Cityplex Savoy will feature the repeat screenings of four films from the Official Selection: The Aeronauts at 3:30 pm, 1982 at 6 pm, Downton Abbey at 8 pm, Mystify: Michael Hutchence at 10:30 pm. The calendar of the Rome Film Fest at the Teatro Palladium features the repeat screening of I Wish I Was Like You by Luca Onorati and Francesco Gargamelli (at 8:30 pm).
Also in the programme of repeat screenings, Sala Sinopoli will feature The Aeronauts (3:30 pm) and The Farewell (5:30 pm). Sala Petrassi will host the screening of Downton Abbey (5:30 pm). At the Frecciarossa Cinema Hall the scheduled screenings are Willow at 5:30 pm, Il ladro di giorni at 8 pm, and Honey Boy at 10:30 pm, while the MAXXI will hold the repeat screenings of 1982 (3 pm) and The Farewell (5 pm).