Rome Film Fest to mix populism with star power for second year
Showbiz Desk

ROME—The second annual Rome Film Fest opens Thursday with 14 films in competition, 15 world premieres and major stars such as Australia’s Cate Blanchett and US director Robert Redford on the menu.
A French gangster film, “Le Deuxieme Souffle” (Second Wind) by Alain Corneau, kicks off the festivities, unveiling Italian star Monica Bellucci as a blonde, co-starring with Daniel Auteuil.
The natural brunette was among the glitterati at the inaugural 2006 RomeFilmFest with a premiere of “N” by the Italian director Paolo Virzi.
An eagerly awaited premiere this year marks the return of US legend Francis Ford Coppola from a decade-long directing hiatus with “Youth Without Youth,” to be screened Saturday.
Based on a novella by Romanian author Mircea Eliade and shot in Bucharest, the film is expected to “generate a lot of discussion,” organiser Piera DeTassis said, describing it as Coppola’s “third renaissance” following “Apocalypse Now” and “The Godfather.”
With dozens of films screened in parallel sections of the festival, including one for children, the October 18-27 event will offer a total of 167 movies and a plethora of stars gliding down the red carpet outside Rome’s Auditorium Parco Della Musica designed by Renzo Piano.
Redford will be on hand to unveil “Lions for Lambs,” set in Afghanistan, starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and himself. Other Americans contributing star power to the event include Reese Witherspoon, Tim Robbins and Halle Berry. The festival, the brainchild of Rome Mayor and film buff Walter Veltroni, last year drew 480,000 moviegoers with its populist format.
Among the 15 world premieres to be shown out of competition is “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” by Indian director Shekhar Kapur and starring Blanchett.
The Oscar-winning Australian returns to Rome after clinching best actress just last 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.”