ROME, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing Rome Film Festival opened with an initial boost in audience, and an increase in the number of locations through which screenings were being made available across the city, the artistic director of the Rome Film Festival Antonio Monda highlighted in a recent interview.
"We have indeed excellent numbers... As of today (Oct. 18), we have a 20 percent plus in sales," Monda told Xinhua.
This 14th edition features 33 films and documentaries from 25 countries in competition, including Martin Scorsese's The Irishman and award-winning actor Edward Norton's Motherless Brooklyn, which was selected as opening film.
Other highly anticipated films were a long-feature version of British famous TV series Downton Abbey and Ron Howard's music documentary about Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.
"We indeed have important titles," the artistic director confirmed.
"This edition's gem is Scorsese's The Irishman, and there is also Norton's film, along with La Belle Epoque (by French Nicolas Bedos) -- which I consider one of the best films of the year -- and Judy (by British Rupert Goold) about Judy Garland's life, to mention a few only."
"Let me also stress that, for the first time, the Rome Film Fest this year reaches 28 different locations across the city, which I think is a lot," he added.
One element characterizing Rome Film Festival in latest years was that it spreads widely beyond the boundaries of the multi-functional Auditorium complex to several venues across the city, including its largest jail and a major hospital.
This resulted from a key pledge made by Monda when he was given the artistic direction in 2015, of "bringing movies all across the city" to reach the most different audiences.
Other factors would also help differentiate Rome Film Festival from other cinema events, according to its director.
"We must be very different from any other festival, because we cannot take the risk of becoming a B-Venice, let's say... We need to be an A-Rome," he stressed.
"So, first of all, our guests do not come here just for red carpet and press conferences, but meet the audience and discuss with them for an hour, sometimes even 90 minutes, about a peculiar theme."
Secondly, Monda added, the films in the line-up were always both highbrow and lowbrow; and, thirdly, the entries selection was made in order not to fall into any category.
"We try not to follow a specific genre, theme, or any sort of quotas, because I really disagree with any festival committee looking for quotas, in terms of gender, contents, religion, traditions... we look for quality only."
For example, the director explained, this year's edition featured many films or documentaries dealing with the theme of music. "This does not mean that we wanted films about music, but that we discovered several good ones, and we chose them."
Beside the debates between cinema and cultural personalities and the audience, two new sections were added to the festival this year. Called "Loyalty/Betrayals" and "Duel", they were intended as ways to further spread the culture of cinema.
The first one was about adaptation. "When you adapt a book (into a screenplay), either you are faithful to the book or you betray it... So, basically, we have some thirty personalities from the arts selecting a famous literary work and discussing it in this perspective with the public," Monda explained.
The Duel section focuses instead on historic rivalries in cinema, such as Fellini versus Visconti, and Chaplin versus Keaton, for example.
"Here we have one celebrity championing one side and another celebrity championing the other in public meetings," he said. "This is not a way to be academic, we believe, but a way to give a few important information about these giants of cinema with elegance and intelligence."
