Rome Film Festival 2006

Presentation

CINEMA. Festa Internazionale di Roma: a great new festival taking place in a great city. And not just a festival but a real feast for movie lovers and a great event for all those who work for cinema, show cinema, tell us stories through cinema.Not just a great city, but THE city of cinema par excellence, will host the Festival which will transform its centre - the Auditorium Parco della Musica - in the Parco del Cinema for nine days.

The dates: the event will premiere at Rome’s Auditorium from the 13th to the 21st of October 2006, along with screenings at movie theatres and events held in spots that symbolize the city, from the Via Veneto to Piazza del Popolo, from Cinecittà to “Greater Rome”. Locations in the province of Rome and the entire Lazio region will also be chosen for events during and immediately after the festival.


The background: the festival is produced by the Musica per Roma Foundation, and its prestigious venue is Rome’s new Auditorium designed by star architect Renzo Piano, who donated the exclusive logo that will characterize all the events on the program.The Festival is funded not only by the City of Rome and the Rome Chamber of Commerce but also by the Lazio Region, the Province of Rome and by the main sponsor, BNL Bank. In addition, it is supported by commercial partners and corporate sponsors who believed in the idea of a great urban event and making it happen, thanks to the highest international standards as well as the undeniable popularity of the innovative cultural agenda.


The team: The Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, is the President of the Honorary Committee for CINEMA. Festa Internazionale di Roma. The President of the Musica per Roma Foundation, Goffredo Bettini, chairs the Board of the Festival, which oversees the Advisory Board (whose coordinator, Mario Sesti, is in charge of Il lavoro dell’Attore – Actor’s Craft section), the General Director of the Festival, Giorgio Gosetti, and the other members of the Board of Directors: Teresa Cavina (in charge of the international selection), Piera Detassis (for the Première Program and its gala evenings), Gianluca Giannelli (coordinator of the Alice nella città - Alice in the City section).


The venues: Rome’s Auditorium - Parco della Musica is the heart of the event, with four screening theatres vaunting state-of-the-art equipment, as well as conference rooms and reception areas for other professional gatherings, premieres and conversations with key players.At the other end of a virtual “Golden Mile”, Via Veneto takes the stage, thanks to its legendary tradition of Italian movies, and becomes during the Festival the Business Street. And surrounding, the “city of Cinecittà”, from Piazza del Popolo to the Trevi Fountain, from the studios at Cinecittà to the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia: a film lover’s dream city, redesigned along the lines of new cultural itineraries, ranging from the Casa del Cinema, to the Casa delle Letterature, to the Casa del Jazz… Up to a total of 20 screens all dedicated to premieres that showcase the great international cinema of today.

More than just movies: The big challenge of the festival is that it seeks to get the entire city involved in an event that really is designed for the public: for people who love films but who have maybe never set foot in a film festival till now. This is why our program is packed with events: parallel exhibitions, panel discussions, shows on music, fashion, literature, past and future; all of which will turn Rome into a formidable location for the nine days of the program, and the entire region around it even immediately after.Rome and its hinterland will be the setting for a great festival dedicated to the cinema in all its forms of creative expression. And not the usual celebration of past glories: instead, something unique to offer today’s filmgoers, and tomorrow’s as well.


The challenge: A Festival meant to appeal to anyone who lives in a big city and has a passion for cinema: how should it be designed, and how should it take shape? What we would really like to do, beyond showcasing quality cinema – the kind that stirs dormant emotions, touches our hearts, and just surprises us, wherever in the world it’s produced – is reinvent the public for film festivals.This is why the first thing we wish to do is put the focus on the work done by the person the public first relates to in the making of a film, the actor him - or herself. And this is why we desire to give actors a space to express their creativity by offering them a direct line to dialogue with their natural audience. This is why our original idea was more of a film ‘feast’ for all rather than a festival alone.This, finally, is the reason we’ll be recruiting 50 ordinary people (50 faithful filmgoers), recasting them as official members of the jury for the Festival. Under the guidance of Ettore Scola as their president, it is these 50 who will be charged with assigning the most important award.

Further and complete information are available at:
http://www.romacinemafest.org

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