Alice Rohrwacher, 41, represents the new guard with her third film "La Chimera" that premiered Friday, a comic tale of corruption that also explores deeper themes. "I wanted to make a film about connections... I show these links and explore important issues like death and the afterlife but in the lightest, most fun and stupid way possible," she told AFP.

Rohrwacher's film evokes classic Italian cinema but also points to its future, said star Isabella Rossellini -- the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini -- who plays a key role in the movie. "Stylistically Alice is so linked to the Italian cinema... and yet she takes it a step further and that's maybe why we can follow her story," the 70-year-old legend told AFP.