21/10/2013 - The parallel section dedicated to younger audiences will include Stijn Coninx's Marina, produced by the Dardenne brothers, out of competition

Surprise titles completing the list of films taking part in Alice in the City – the autonomous and parallel section of the International Rome Film Festival dedicated to younger audiences – have been announced. The Finnish feature film Heart of a Lion [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Dome Karukoski will be completing the Young/Adult section. Karukoski took part in the Alice event in 2008 with The home of dark Butterflies [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. His film will be joined by Japanese Patema Inverted by Yasuhiro Yoshiura.

Heart of a Lion, presented recently at the Toronto and Montreal Festival, is the second Finnish film to be taking part in the official competition, after the already announced A Disciple [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ulrika Bengts. Bengts is one of Finland’s most prized directors. His film, in the running for these coming Oscars, tells the story of the leader of a neo-Nazi skinhead gang who falls in love with a girl whose son is mixed race.

The third title to be revealed, joining the special event, out of competition section, is Marina [+see also:
trailer
interview: Cristiano Bortone
film profile], directed by Stijn Coninx. The Italian Belgian co-production involved Italian company Orisa Produzioni and their Cristiano Bortone, Belgian company Les Films du Fleuve and brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne as well as Peter Bouckaert at Eyeworks Film.

The film will have its premiere after stopping in Montreal. Its international cast includes Italians Luigi Lo Cascio and Donatella Finocchiaro. The film is set in 1948 in a beautiful seaside village. It was inspired by the life of famous musician Rocco Granata, known for composing the song “Marina”. It darts between 1950s Italy and Belgium, during which time many Italians migrated north to find work in the coalmines.  

Completing the Special Event, out of competition program will be Container 158, a documentary by Stefano Liberti and Enrico Parenti about Europe’s biggest Roma encampment along Rome’s Via Salone. 

(Translated from Italian)