05/10/2020 - The 18th edition of Rome Film Fest’s parallel section dedicated to younger audiences will boast a new section created in collaboration with Venice

Having projected films onto building facades during lockdown and organised a floating theatre on Eur Lake in the summer, Alice nella Città is now headed to Rome’s Nuvola di Fuksas Convention Centre on the occasion of the festival’s 18th edition, unspooling in the capital between 15 – 25 October alongside the 15^th Rome Film Fest. For the very first time, the Convention Centre designed by the famous Roman architect will open its auditorium doors to the world of cinema, hosting part of the rich Alice nella Città programme which is dedicated, as always, to the younger generations, and will this year offer up 12 films in competition, 5 out of competition, 6 special screenings, a new “Sintonie” section organised in collaboration with Venice 77 and the Series line-up, not to mention 3 restored films and 26 shorts.

“This year, we’ve looked to overturn festival boundaries by moving beyond the labelling of films and the dogged quest for world premieres”, declared section directors Gianluca Giannelli and Fabia Bettini while introducing Sintonie, the new line-up created in collaboration with Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera. “Our focal point is kids: those shown in the films which were presented in Venice and which have now been re-selected for Alice nella Città, and those who were unable to enjoy the Venice screenings but will now be able to catch up via Alice”. The 6 proposed titles are: The Predators [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Castellitto
film profile] by Pietro Castellitto (rewarded for its screenplay), Nowhere Special [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Uberto Pasolini
film profile] by Uberto Pasolini, Listen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ana Rocha de Sousa
film profile] by Ana Rocha de Sousa, Night of the Kings [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Lacôte
film profile] by Philippe Lacôte, Mainstream by Gia Coppola and Sun Children by Majid Majidi.

Battling it out in the Young Adult Competition, meanwhile, are 11+1 films (the additional title is set to be announced at the Rome Film Fest press conference next Monday), which will be assessed by a jury comprising 15 youngsters selected from across the country. Standing out among these titles are several works focusing on bodily changes as a result of sport, such as Slalom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charlène Favier
film profile] by Charlène Favier, Tigers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ronnie Sandahl
film profile] by Ronnie Sandahl and Nadia, Butterfly by Pascal Plante; others home in on the sense of belonging to a community, such as Gagarin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Tr…
film profile] by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, Punta Sacra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesca Mazzoleni
film profile] by Francesca Mazzoleni and Ibrahim [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Samir Guesmi; there’s also the dark fairy tale Shadows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlo Lavagna
film profile] by Carlo Lavagna and the animated film Calamity: A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Henri Magalon
film profile] by Rémi Chayé, without forgetting Bruno Merle’s Felicità [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Likewise worth a mention are Kajillionaire by Miranda July - “the craziest film presented in recent years” according to Giannelli - and Elizabeth Lo’s documentary Stray.

In terms of works screening Out of Competition, this year’s line-up is dedicated to the discovery and valorisation of young Italian cinema. The selected titles are: Movida [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Alessandro Padovani, Il mio corpo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michele Pennetta
film profile] by Michele Pennetta, Cuban Dancer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Roberto Salinas, Climbing Iran [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Francesca Borghetti and Ordinary Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Chiara Bellosi. Special Screenings include Luca della Grotta and Francesco Dafano’s cartoon Trash [+see also:
trailer
film profile], about the recycling of waste; The Specials [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache; Forward [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Gilles de Maistre (sponsored by Unicef), and Alice Filippi’s debut work, the promising teen dramedy Sul più bello [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Finally, Aneil Karia’s British series Pure is set for a screening in the Series line-up, as is France’s Stalk by Simon Bouisson and Italy’s L’alligatore by Daniele Vicari and Emanuele Scaringi.

(Translated from Italian)