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Coppola film to premiere in Rome
28/09/2007 15:40 - (SA)
Rome - US director legend Francis Ford Coppola returns from a decade-long directing hiatus with Youth Without Youth, to be premiered next month at the second annual Rome film festival.
Based on a novella by Romanian author Mircea Eliade and shot in Bucharest, Youth Without Youth is an "important film that will generate a lot of discussion," organiser Piera DeTassis said on Thursday as this year's lineup was unveiled.
She described the film as Coppola's "third renaissance" following Apocalypse Now and The Godfather.
Also among the 11 world premieres to be shown out of competition at the October 18-27 event is Elizabeth: The Golden Age by Indian director Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett.
The Oscar-winning Australian star returns to Rome after clinching best actress just this month in Venice for her role as a male guitarist resembling Bob Dylan at the height of his stardom in Todd Haynes's kaleidoscopic biopic I'm Not There.
Here in Rome, a popular jury headed by Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic (No Man's Land) will comprise 50 ordinary filmgoers chosen by lot including 30 Italians and the rest from 11 other European countries.
'Exceptional period'
They will pick the best film, the special jury prize and best actress and actor from 14 films in competition.
Also returning to Rome this year is Italian star Monica Belluci in Alain Corneau's in-competition Le Deuxieme Souffle (Second Wind), co-starring French veteran Daniel Auteuil.
Belluci was among the glitterati at the inaugural 2006 RomeFilmFest, the brainchild of Mayor Walter Veltroni, with a premiere of N by the Italian director Paolo Virzi.
Veltroni, himself a former film critic, said on Thursday: "It's a great programme, with so many interesting films offering a complete panorama of the state of health of cinema in the world."
Also providing star power will be Robert Redford, unveiling Lions for Lambs, set in Afghanistan, with Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and himself, as well as Hollywood's Sean Penn in Into the Wild.
"The presence of so many American films, as happened in Venice, shows the exceptional period being enjoyed by this country's cinema, including Hollywood productions, marked by engagement and thought," DeTassis said.
Tribute to Indian cinema
Meanwhile iconic Italian actress Sofia Loren will be honoured with a retrospective to include classics such as Marriage Italian-Style and Scandal in Sorrento.
And the indefatigable French veteran Gerard Depardieu will turn up in Italian comedy L'Abbuffata.
Among other special events at the festival, which last year drew 480 000 filmgoers, is a special tribute to Indian cinema with new films by Sudhir Mishra, Feroze Khan and Mani Ratnam.
- AFP
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South Africa
