In the name of women. Starting with the poster of the eighteenth Rome Film Festival, on which the smiling face of Anna Magnani shines. While at the Venice Film Festival none of the six Italian films in competition were directed by a woman, the Festa opens with Paola Cortellesi’s directorial debut, There Is Tomorrow, celebrating female talent in all sections film festival an endless program that will enliven the Auditorium Parco della Musica and many other places in the city from 18 to 29 October.
Women in front of and behind the camera, the protagonists of real or fictional stories set in the present or past. And also in the name of women, the 21st edition of “Alice in the City,” an autonomous and parallel section of the festival, will be held. “There are many female stories and characters, there are thirteen female directors,” emphasizes Fabia Bettini, director (with Gianluca Giannelli) of this section “dedicated to youth, talent and debuts.” “What all the women who attended in various forms had in common was a desire to get involved. But the program was not built on quotas, quotas for women or any other nature,” noted Paola Malanga, artistic director of the Festival together with President Gianluca Farinelli. And of course there is also the music dedicated to Giorgio Gaber, Riccardo Milani’s Io, Noi e Gaber and Zucchero, narrated by Valentino Zanella and Giangiacomo De Stefano in Zucchero – Super Fornaciari.
But a group of actresses who decide to try their hand at directing is amazing, as Micaela Ramazzotti, who won the Audience Award in Venice, at Horizonte Extra, has already done with her Felicita. Paola Cortellesi makes a bold debut with a black-and-white film in which she is also the protagonist, set in the post-war period, about a woman dominated by an abusive husband. In addition to her, the festival presents the first works of Margarita Bui with Volare about a talented actress played by Bui herself, Kasia Smutnyak with Moore, in which the actress returns to her home country, Poland. documenting the situation of Ukrainian refugees, as well as Giovanna Mezzogiorno with the short film “Unfitting” about an actress being persecuted by directors and producers. Not debuting, but recognized authors: Emma Dante, who signs a contract for the film “Misericordia”, based on her theater play of the same name, and Francesca Archibugi, who presents the series “History” she directed based on the novel by Elsa Morante, and Monica Bellucci talks about the debut of Callas in ‘Paris Opera in December 1958 in Monica’ tells Thomas Wolff’s Maria. Once again, among the three (out of 18) Italian films in competition, Roberta Torre’s My Hair Hurts (the other two, Cortellesi’s There’s Still Tomorrow and Edoardo Gabriellini’s Vacation), about a woman played by Alba Rohrwacher who confronts Memory loss is represented in various characters played by Monica Vitti.
Various proposals, many, always from female directors, also in the “Freestyle” section, such as “Nino Migliori – The party that turns the world for fun” by Elisabetta Sgarbi and such as “Pitturessa”, in which Fabiana Sargentini documents her creative talent. mother, Anna Paparetti, a very energetic 87-year-old woman, former muse and companion of the gallery owner and writer Fabio Sargentini.
Expected at the festival are Isabella Rossellini, who will receive a lifetime achievement award, and Juliette Binoche in the cast of “Pot,” hailed as the most radical food film ever made. And at a meeting open to the public, Nastassja Kinski, the magnificent heroine of Wenders, Coppola, Polanski, as well as many Italian directors, will talk about cinema and her outstanding career.