Rome Film Fest to be held from 15-26 October.

The 2025 Rome Film Fest offers cinema fans 12 days of movie premieres, screenings, masterclasses and special guests in the Italian capital from 15-26 October.

The Festa del Cinema di Roma, whose artistic director is Paola Malanga, is based at the Auditorium Parco della Musica - Ennio Morricone, with events also taking place in other cultural venues around the capital.

Among the most anticipated guests are Jennifer Lawrence, the star of Lynne Ramsay's Die My Love, and Christoph Waltz, who will be appearing in Dracula, alongside Italian actress Matilda De Angelis.

Actors James McAvoy and Brian Cox will also be there, both making their directorial debuts with California Schemin' and Glenrothan, respectively.

The jury will be chaired by Paola Cortellesi, and two Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented: the first to Iranian director Jafar Panahi, presented by Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore; the second to award-winning film producer Lord David Puttnam.

The festival will open with Riccardo Milani's film La vita va così, starring Virginia Raffaele and Geppi Cucciari, recounting 20 years of community life in Sardinia.

There are 18 films in competition, four of which are Italian:

40 Seconds by Vincenzo Alfieri, based on the murder of young Willy Monteiro; L'accident de piano by Quentin Dupieux; Chang ye Jiang Jin by Wang Tong; Esta isla by Lorraine Jones Molina; Good boy by Jan Komasa; Kota by Gyorgy Palfi; Left-handed Girl by Shin Ching Tsou; Mad bills to pay by Joel Alfonso Vargas; Miss Carbon by Agustina Macri, and Nino by Pauline Loques.

Gli occhi degli altri by Andrea De Sica; Our hero, Balthazar by Oscar Boyson; Re-Creation by Jim Sheridan and David Merriman; the documentary Roberto Rossellini, più di una vita; Sciatunostro by Leandro Picarella; Six jours ce printemps-là by Joachim Lafosse; The things you kill by Alireza Khatami; and Winter of the crow by Kasia Adamik.

The festival also includes Palestine 36, a historical drama by Annemarie Jacir about the Palestinian revolt of 1936–39 against British colonial rule; Anna, Monica Guerritore's film about the life of Anna Magnani; Rino Gaetano – Sempre più blu, Giorgio Verdelli's documentary about the Italian singer; and Hamnet by director Chloé Zhao who explores the life of Shakespeare's wife Agnes after the death of their son.

Other films to watch out for include Couture, produced by and starring Angelina Jolie; Moss & Freud, produced by Kate Moss; and Paolo Virzì's new film Cinque secondi, starring Valerio Mastandrea.

The programme features tributes to Pier Paolo Pasolini, special effects genius Carlo Rambaldi, and photographer Franco Pinna whose iconic image of the set of Fellini’s 1965 film Giulietta degli Spiriti is the official poster of the festival.

"This year we're presenting more than 150 titles from 38 different countries” – the president of Fondazione Cinema per Roma Salvatore Nastasi said - "The goal is to surpass last year's 110,000 attendees and make the festival a home for independent filmmakers. Looking at the film list, I think we've achieved that."

For full details of the programme and tickets see the festival’s official website.