Rome's third annual film festival opening October 22 will shine the spotlight on European talent with a heavy presence of French and Italian films, organisers said Wednesday.
While the first two years' lineups were long on Hollywood, only one American feature film will be among the 21 films in competition this year, Gavin O'Connor's "Pride and Glory" starring Edward Norton.
The festival, which will run until October 31, was the brainchild of former Rome mayor Walter Veltroni, now the head of Italy's centre-left opposition Democratic Party.
"L'Uomo Che Ama" (The Man Who Loves), Italian director Maria Sole Tognazzi's second feature-length film starring Monica Bellucci, will open the festival.
Piera DeTassis, unveiling the programme, said not kicking off with a foreign film was against protocol, but pleaded that it was a "little transgression."
An Italian film has also been selected to end the festival, Maurizio Scaparro's "L'Ultima Pulcinella" with Massimo Ranieri.
Five French films are in the lineup including the comedy "Aide-Toi et le Ciel T'Aidera" (With a Little Help from Myself) by Francois Dupeyron starring Claude Rich, "The Client" by Josianne Balasko and "Le Plaisir de Chanter" by Ilan Duran Cohen, starring Jeanne Balibar and Laurent Deutsch.
Lending star power to the festival out of competition will be the premier of British director Saul Dibb's "The Duchess" with Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes.
A UN-backed project involving several big cinema names such as Jane Campion, Gael Garcia Bernal, Gaspar Noe, Gus Van Sant and Wim Wenders, "Huit/Eight" on world poverty will also be screened at the festival.
Copyright 2008  AFP Global Edition
