Rome, the Eternal City, has welcomed the Autumn season with an extraordinary event that involves the global cinematographic industry: the 15^th Rome Film Fest. This event has always been held in Rome in a splendid location, the “Auditorium Parco della Musica”, a large public music complex designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano.

The first edition, in 2006, was preceded by some debates regarding the period chosen to present the celebration; indeed, Autumn already hosted the world's oldest film festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the renowned Torino Film Fest. Nevertheless, the then “Cinema. Festa internazionale di Roma”, organized by “Fondazione Musica per Roma”, gained such a great success that, during the years, it turned into one of the most known cinematographic event in Europe and all over the world.

The year after was created the “Fondazione Cinema per Roma” and, in 2008, the celebration was renamed “Rome Film International Festival”. Until the 8^th edition in 2013, the Festival was a competition, then it became noncompetitive, giving to the people the duty of proclaiming the winner of each category (“Gala”, “Cinema d’oggi”, “Mondo Genere”, “Prospettive Italia”, “Alice nelle città”).

In the ’50s Rome became one of the favorite places where the American directors shot their movies. The so-called period, “La Dolce Vita”, was very florid for the Italian cinematographic industry: after the Second World War, the economic recovery and wellness spread in the whole peninsula, especially in Rome, the capital, where Cinecittà Studios incredibly increased their activities. In 1948, the first American movie which took place in the Roman Studios was “Prince of Foxes” produced by the 20^th Century Fox; then in the ’50s, “Quo vadis?” directed by Mervyn LeRoy and “Ben Hur” by William Wyler marked the great notoriety of the "Hollywood sul Tevere".

Among the most celebrated American movies presented during the several editions of the Rome Film Fest, last year the Scorsese’s masterpiece “The Irishman” was announced with great clamor. It was one of the most highly anticipated film of the year, with an exceptional cast, and represented the centerpiece of the 2019 edition.

The 2020 edition has opened with the animation movie “Soul” by the amazing Pete Docter: film director, screenwriter, producer, voice actor who has received the Lifetime Achievement Award as Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios. Among the movies, the U.S. production has presented “Time”, by Garret Bradley, the story of a businesswoman fighting against the American prison system to obtain the release of her beloved husband.

From the 15^th to the 25^th of October 2020, the “Auditorium Parco della Musica”, with its red carpet and screening rooms hosted screenings, master classes, tributes, retrospectives, panels, and special events. Noteworthy is the activity of promoting Italian American cultural relations conducted by the Artistic Director of the Rome Film Fest, Antonio Monda, who serves as writer, university professor and curator of famous retrospectives at the most prestigious cultural institutions in the U.S.