“A slimmer line-up which drills down deeper, focusing on puberty, father-son relationships, rites of passage and the search for identity”. This is how the festival’s long-term artistic director Gianluca Giannelli, alongside Fabia Bettini, presented the latest edition of Alice nella Città, the autonomous section for younger generations which will unfold in parallel with Rome Film Fest between 13 and 23 October, and which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with a very special guest: “gladiator” Russell Crowe. The New Zealand actor is set to present a world premiere (in co-production with Rome Film Fest) of his second directorial effort Poker Face in the Alice sidebar, as well as accepting a Special Prize here and taking part in a masterclass open to film schools and the general public.

The festival programme consists of 12 works in competition, 3 films screening out of competition, 8 titles in the Italian Panorama competition (plus 4 Special Screenings) and 4 Special Events. The opening film will be the American first work/phenomenon Marcel The Shell With Shoes On by Dean Fleischer-Camp, “a Little Prince 4.0” whose protagonist is a talking shell. The European titles battling it out in the competition are La maternal [+lire aussi :
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interview : Pilar Palomero
fiche film] by Pilar Palomero, Close [+lire aussi :
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interview : Eden Dambrine
interview : Lukas Dhont
interview : Lukas Dhont
fiche film] by Lukas Dhont, Cet été-là by Eric Lartigau (starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Marina Foïs), Hawa [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Maïmouna Doucouré, and first works Summer Scars [+lire aussi :
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interview : Simon Rieth
fiche film] by Simon Rieth and the winner of Cannes’ most recent Certain Regard competition The Worst Ones [+lire aussi :
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interview : Romane Gueret et Lise Akoka
fiche film] by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret. The only Italian title in the running is the documentary Il cerchio [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Sophie Chiarello, which homes in on B section children in Manin Primary School in Rome. The competition also includes American films Armageddon Time by James Gray (in co-production with the festival), I Love My Dad by James Morosini, and Signs of Love by Clarence Fuller (starring Rosanna Arquette), and Canada’s Before I Change My Mind by Trevor Anderson.

Out of Competition, there’s Carlota Pereda’s horror film Piggy [+lire aussi :
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interview : Carlota Pereda
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fiche film] by Simon Lereng Wilmont, and Charlotte Wells’ British-American first film Aftersun [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (starring Paul Mescal; Roman audiences will also get to meet the director and the actor at the festival). Special Screenings will include the Italian-German series Corpo libero, a coming-of-age thriller set in the world of women’s artistic gymnastics and directed by Cosima Spender and Valerio Bonelli, and the Canadian documentary Backlash: Misogyny in The Digital Age by Léa Clermont-Dion and Guylaine Maroist, drilling down into cyber misogyny.

Amongst other titles, the Italian Panorama section will offer up the emotional horror film Flowing [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Paolo Strippoli, The Man on the Road [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Gianluca Mangiasciutti (opening film), Il ritorno [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Stefano Chiantini (starring pop singer Emma Marrone, whom audiences will get a chance to meet, and Fabrizio Rongione), and Fabio Mollo’s new film My Soul Summer, which marks X Factor winner Casadilego’s big screen debut. The Special Screening line-up will include Giorgio Testi’s documentary Mahmood, in which the famous popstar tells his own story, while the Special Events programme includes The Tiger’s Nest [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Brando Quilici and Heart of Oak [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Laurent Charbonnier and Michel Seydoux.

The “Sintonie” section, developed in collaboration with the Venice Film Festival, is also making a return this year, offering up four films presented in the latest Orizzonti line-up, namely Ghost Night [+lire aussi :
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interview : Fulvio Risuleo
fiche film] by Fulvio Risuleo, Hanging Gardens [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji
fiche film] by Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji, Innocence [+lire aussi :
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interview : Guy Davidi
fiche film] by Guy Davidi, and Bread and Salt [+lire aussi :
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interview : Damian Kocur
fiche film] by Damian Kocur. A selection of 28 short films is set to round off the festival programme, including Feliz Navidad, which signals the directorial debut of actress Greta Scarano.

Meanwhile, the Best Film award will be decided upon by a jury of 35 young people between 16 and 19 years old, the Best Italian Film will be voted upon by a jury composed of directors Riccardo Milani and Massimiliano Bruni, actress Milena Mancini, actor Giampaolo Morelli and singer Tosca, there’s a new festival award in the form of the Corbucci Prize for distribution, and, last but not least, director Gabriele Mainetti is set to lead the jury.