An “enormous edition, a wonderful programme, a selection for all tastes”, is how the 18th Rome Film Fest has been described by Gian Luca Farinelli, the chair of the Rome Cinema Foundation who introduced the newest edition of the Roman gathering Friday at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, before handing over to the festival’s artistic director Paola Malanga. The event is set to last a day longer this year (running 18 – 29 October), unfolding in various locations across the city and hosting screenings, meetings and discussions on the future of film, all the while maintaining its beating heart at the Auditorium.

The lists of meetings and jury members are yet to be confirmed (they’ll be announced over the coming days, as will additional titles in the selection), but in the meantime, the Progressive Cinema Competition line-up is as follows: 18 international titles will be battling it out for victory, whether fiction films, documentaries or animations. The first out of the traps will be C’è ancora domani [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], actress Paola Cortellesi’s directorial debut set in working class Rome of the late 1940s. We’ll then go from Un amor [+lee también:
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entrevista: Isabel Coixet
ficha de la película] by Spain’s Isabel Coixet to Nicolas Boukhrief’s social drama Like a Son, via Joachim Lafosse’s A Silence [+lee también:
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entrevista: Joachim Lafosse
ficha de la película], Leo Leigh’s (Mike Leigh’s son) directorial debut Sweet Sue [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] and other first works along the lines of Achilles [+lee también:
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entrevista: Farhad Delaram
ficha de la película] by Farhad Delaram, After the Fire [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Mehdi Fikri, The Hypnosis [+lee también:
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entrevista: Asta Kamma August
entrevista: Ernst De Geer
ficha de la película] by Sweden’s Ernst De Geer and Toll [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Carolina Markowicz. Germany will offer up Asli Özge’s Black Box [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], painting a paranoid portrait of society, co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, Bulgaria Stephan Komandarev with his Crystal Globe Karlovy Vary winner Blaga’s Lessons [+lee también:
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entrevista: Stephan Komandarev
ficha de la película], and another Swedish title in the form of One Day All This Will Be Yours [+lee también:
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entrevista: Andreas Öhman
ficha de la película] by Andreas Öhman. Hailing from Italy, we’ll see Edoardo Gabbriellini’s Holiday [+lee también:
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entrevista: Edoardo Gabbriellini
ficha de la película], which has just been launched in Toronto; Roberta Torre’s Mi fanno male i capelli [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], which is an homage to the much-missed actress Monica Vitti (read our news); and Teemu Nikki’s Italian-Finnish title La morte è un problema dei vivi. Final movies rounding off the competition are Fremont by Babak Jalali, from the USA; The Monk and the Gun by Pawo Choyning Dorji, from Bhutan; and The Erection of Toribio Bardelli by Adrián Saba, from Peru. The latter two films are also Oscar candidates representing their two respective countries.

The non-competitive Freestyle section, composed of free form and freestyle titles, includes Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal’s animation They Shot the Piano Player [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], Katja Gauriloff’s Finnish title Je’vida [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], the documentary Tehachapi, shot in a Californian maximum security prison by French street artist JR; Jeff Koons. Un ritratto privato [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Pappi Corsicato; and Fela, il mio dio vivente [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Daniele Vicari, about Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.

Standing tall in the Grand Public line-up, dedicated to films for large audiences, we’ll see Ferzan Ozpetek’s new melodrama Nuovo Olimpo [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], which is a love story travelling through time and across great distances; actor Michele Riondino’s directorial debut with solid, civil foundations Palazzina Laf [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], about workers on the Ilva steelworks complex in Taranto; the final chapter in the Manetti brothers’ Diabolik trilogy Diabolik chi sei?; actress Margherita Buy’s first work Volare [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]; Told You So [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Ginevra Elkann, and And the Party Goes On by Robert Guédiguian. Audiences will be treated to some unmissable series too, enjoying the first episodes of Suburraeterna, I leoni di Sicilia (directed by Paolo Genovese), Mare Fuori 4 and La storia by Francesca Archibugi.

The non-competitive Best Of section is making a return, showcasing films hailing from other international festivals which are considered to be the best of the past season. These include this year’s Palme D’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall [+lee también:
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entrevista: Justine Triet
ficha de la película] by Justine Triet, La chimera [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Alice Rohrwacher, The Zone of Interest [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Jonathan Glazer, Eureka [+lee también:
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entrevista: Lisandro Alonso
ficha de la película] by Lisandro Alonso, Firebrand [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Karim Aïnouz and Paul B. Preciado’s documentary Orlando, My Political Biography [+lee también:
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entrevista: Paul B. Preciado
ficha de la película].

Last but not least, the festival will be hosting Special Screenings of Kevin Macdonald’s documentary High & Low - John Galliano, about the brilliant creative director of Dior; Io, noi e Gaber [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Riccardo Milani, about the great Italian artist who invented Teatro Canzone; and Kripton [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Francesco Munzi, which is an idealistic continuation of the work carried out in Futura [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], alongside Emma Dante’s new film Misericordia [+lee también:
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entrevista: Emma Dante
ficha de la película], Francesca Comencini’s latest work Tante facce nella memoria, Kasia Smutniak’s directorial debut Walls [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], and David Gutnik’s documentary Rule of the Walls, which follows artists of all extractions and practices in Ukraine in 2022.

The final line-up in the festival is the History of Cinema section, offering up documentaries, restored films, and tributes to actress Isabella Rossellini and composer Shigeru Umebayashi in particular, who will each receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.