The 20th Rome Film Festival was held from 15 October in the Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome till 26 October 2025. The festival opened with 2025 Italian comedy film Life Goes This Way by Riccardo Milani. Paola Cortellesi, an Italian actress, comedian, film director, screenwriter and producer served as the president of the jury of the Progressive Cinema Competition.
Ema Stokholma, a DJ, host, actress, writer and singer, hosted the opening of the festival on 15 October in Sala Sinopoli of the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone. She also hosted the closing ceremony and the awards presentation ceremony on 25 October in Sala Petrassi. The Taiwanese-American drama film Left-Handed Girl written, directed and produced by Shih-Ching Tsou, won the Best film award, while French drama film Nino by Pauline Loquès won the Grand Jury Prize, as announced during the presentation.
In the 20th edition of the festival 198 films from 38 countries had 436 screenings with the total attendance of 116,503 people.
The festival concluded on 26 October 2025 with re-run of winning films and screening of the final season of Carlo Verdone's TV series Vita da Carlo, which is a portrayal of the drama and the comedy of Carlo Verdone's private life.
Highlights
The festival celebrated birth centenary of Franco Pinna, Italian photographer of the second half of the 20th century. The official poster of the festival is a shot taken by him on the set of Federico Fellini's 1965 fantasy comedy-drama film, Juliet of the Spirits. David Puttnam, British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords, was honoured with Industry Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening ceremony. He received the award from Britain-based Italian director and screenwriter Uberto Pasolini.
Jafar Panahi, Iranian film director, screenwriter, and editor and Richard Linklater, American filmmaker were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by Italian film director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore and Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor Marco Bellocchio respectively. On 16 October the New York filmmaker Nia DaCosta was presented with the Progressive Lifetime Achievement Award by the festival's Artistic Director Paola Malanga.
On 19 September 2025, the festival unveiled its line-up. The festival showcased 191 titles from 38 countries.
Jury
The jury for the competitive sections was announced on 29 July 2025. The jury will decide Best Film, Grand Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Screenplay, the "Monica Vitti" Award for Best Actress, the "Vittorio Gassman" Award for Best Actor and the Special Jury Prize in Progressive Cinema Competition. Progressive Cinema Competition Award
Paola Cortellesi, an Italian actress, comedian, film director, screenwriter and producer (Jury President) Teemu Nikki, a Finnish director and screenwriter William Oldroyd, a British director and screenwriter Brian Selznick, an American writer and illustrator Nadia Tereszkiewicz, a French-Finnish actress
Progressive Cinema, Freestyle and Grand Public Competition sections
Santiago Mitre, Argentine film director and screenwriter (Jury President) Patrick Dickinson, Anglo-Irish director and screenwriter Barbara Ronchi, Italian actress
Events
Celebration of Franco Pinna
Festa del Cinema will honor the 100th birth anniversary of Italian photographer Franco Pinna with three parallel exhibitions titled "Franco Pinna Photographer. Tribute to a Century." Curated by Paolo Pisanelli and organized by Archivio Franco Pinna and OfficinaVisioni, the exhibitions will be showcased in key festival venues, in collaboration with Cinema del reale, Erratacorrige, and Big Sur.
Official sections The twentieth edition will have following sections:
Progressive Cinema Competition Freestyle Grand public Special screenings Best of 2025 History of cinema Special events
Opening film
La vita va così starring Virginia Raffaele, Diego Abatantuono, and Aldo Baglio, a "humorous twenty-year story set in a wonderful corner of Sardinia" was selected as the opening film of the festival. English title Original title Director(s) Production country(ies) Life Goes This Way La vita va così Riccardo Milani Italy
Progressive Cinema Competition - Visions for the World of Tomorrow
English title Original title Director(s) Production country(ies) 40 Seconds 40 secondi Vincenzo Alfieri Italy The Eyes Of Others Gli occhi degli altri Andrea De Sica Italy Good Boy Jan Komasa Poland, United Kingdom Hen Kota György Pálfi Germany, Greece, Hungary This Island Esta Isla Lorraine Jones Molina, Cristian Carretero Puerto RicoLeft-Handed GirlShih-Ching TsouTaiwan, France, United States, United KingdomMad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)Joel Alfonso VargasUnited StatesNino Pauline LoquèsFranceOur Hero, Balthazar Oscar Boyson United States The Piano Accident L'Accident de piano Quentin Dupieux France Queen of Coal Miss Carbón Agustina Macri Spain, ArgentinaRe-creation Jim Sheridan, David Merriman Ireland, LuxembourgRoberto Rossellini, More Than a Life Ilaria de Laurentiis , Andrea Paolo Massara and Raffaele Brunetti Italy, Latvia Sciatunostro Leandro Picarella Italy Six Days in SpringSix Jours Ce Printemps-There Joachim Lafosse Belgium, France, LuxembourgThe Things You KillAlireza KhatamiTurkey, France, Poland, Canada Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts Chang Ye Jiang Jin Wang Tong China Winter of the Crow Kasia Adamik Poland, Luxembourg, United Kingdom
Freestyle
Films
English title Original title Director(s) Production country(ies) The Big Bowl Karen Di Porto Italy California Schemin' James McAvoy United Kingdom The Council Chamber La camera di consiglio Fiorella Infascelli Italy Keep Me in Mind Alberto Palmiero Italy Malavia Nunzia De Stefano Italy Unseen Pictures L'Oeuvre Invisible Avril Tembouret, Vladimir Rodionov FrancePeter Hujar's DayIra Sachs United States Mehdi's Little Cuisine La petite cuisine de Mehdi Amine Adjina FranceQueens of the Dead Tina Romero United States
Arts
English title Original title Director(s) Production countr y(ies) Cannibals Cannibali Hilary Tiscione Italy Catartis - Preserving The Future Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani Italy Comedy Doesn't Exist. Salemme Tries Eduardo Raffaele Rago Italy Dacia, My Life - Japanese Dialogues Izumi Chiaraluce Italy Easy to Love - The True Story Of Massimo Urbani Paolo Colangeli Italy Ellroy Vs La Francesco Zippel Italy L'énigme Velázquez L'énigme Velázquez Stéphane Sorlat France I Love Lucca Comics & Games Manlio Castagna ItalyIt's Never Over, Jeff Buckley Amy J. Berg United States The Force of Destiny Anissa Bonnefont Italy, France Looking for Nivola Peter Marcias ItalyThe Librarians Kim A. Snyder United States Beyond the Border: Images Of Francesco And Mimmo Jodice Matteo Parisini Italy Pirandello - The Giant In Love Costanza Quatriglio Italy Procès D'un Jeune Poète Procès D'un Jeune Poète Philippe Van Cutsem Belgium Rino Gaetano - Ever Blur Giorgio Verdelli ItalyStardust: A Story of Love and Architecture Jim Venturi, Anita Naughton United States Stile Albert Michele Masneri, Antongiulio Panizzi ItalyTutta Vita Valentina Cenni Italy
Series
English title Original title Director(s) Production country y(ies) The Anatomy of a Moment Anatomía de un instante Alberto Rodríguez Librero Spain, FranceChoose Earth Anne de Carbuccia United States, ItalyThe Deal Jean-Stéphane Bron Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, BelgiumMrs Playmen Riccardo Donna ItalySandokan Jan Maria Michelini, Nicola Abbatangelo ItalyTupa 13 Teemu Nikki FinlandVita da Carlo Carlo Verdone ItalyWarriors – The Rule of Balance Gianluca Maria Tavarelli Italy
Grand public
English title Original title Director(s) Production country y(ies) & Sons Pablo Trapero United Kingdom, Canada Alla festa della Rivoluzione Arnaldo Catinari Italy ANNA: The First Film on Anna Magnani Monica Guerritore Italy The Big Fake Il falsario Stefano Lodovichi Italy Breve storia d'amore Ludovica Rampoldi Italy Couture Alice Winocour United States, France Dracula Luc Besson France Elena's War Elena del ghetto Stefano Casertano Italy Five Seconds Cinque secondi Paolo Virzì ItalyGlenrothan Brian Cox United KingdomHamnetChloé ZhaoUnited Kingdom, United States Hedda Nia DaCosta United States Homo Argentum Gastón Duprat, Mariano Cohn Argentina Illusion Illusione Francesca Archibugi Italy Life Goes This Way La vita va così Riccardo Milani Italy Out of Truth Fuori la verità Davide Minnella Italy Two Pianos Deux Pianos Arnaud Desplechin France
Special screenings English title Original title Director(s) Production country y(ies) 2000 Meters to Andriivka 2000 метрів до АндріївкиMstyslav ChernovUkraine Belén Dolores Fonzi Argentina The Better Truth Lorenza Indovina Italy Cuba & Alaska Yegor Troyanovsky Ukraine, France, Belgium The Guitar in the Rock - Lucio Corsi live at the Abbey of San Galgano Tommaso Ottomano Italy The Diaspora of the Sails Francesca Comencini Italy Ecce Mole Heinz Emigholz Italy The Most Beautiful Son Giovanni Piperno, Stefano Rulli Italy I Am Curious Johnny Julien Temple Italy Kenny Dalglish Asif Kapadia United Kingdom Ni Primera Ni Dama Barbara Cupisti Italy Us and the Great Ambition Andrea Segre Italy Pontifex - A Bridge Between Mercy and Hope Daniele Ciprì Italy The Prince of Madness Dario D'Ambrosi Italy Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk Sepideh Farsi France, Palestine Hurry Up. Chefs on Leave Claudia Gerini Italy Wider Than the Sky Valerio Jalongo Italy, Switzerland
Best of 2025
English title Original title Director(s) Production country(ies) The Secret Agent Kleber Mendonça FilhoBrazil, France, Germany, Netherlands Die My Love Lynne RamsayUnited StatesDreams Michel Franco Mexico, United States Eddington Ari AsterUnited StatesIf I Had Legs I'd Kick YouMary BronsteinUnited StatesYes כן! Nadav Lapid Israel, France, Germany, Cyprus, United Kingdom Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting Leibniz – Chronik eines verschollenen Bildes Edgar Reitz and Anatol Schuster Germany Nouvelle Vague Richard LinklaterFrance Once Upon a Time in Gaza Tarzan and Arab Nasser Palestine, France, Portugal It Was Just an Accident Jafar PanahiIran, France, Luxembourg
History of cinema Documentaries English title Original title Director(s) Production country(ies)Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail Laurent Bouzereau France, United Kingdom, United States The Cruise Bennett Miller United States Il cinema secondo Corman Giulio Laroni Italy
Special events A Tribute to Susan Seidelman Susan Seidelman is an American film director, producer, and writer.
English title Original title Director(s) CastDesperately Seeking Susan Susan Seidelman United States
The Anniversaries
Year of release English title Original title Director(s) Production country(ies) 2000 One Hundred Steps I cento passi Marco Tullio Giordana Italy, Spain 1975The Rocky Horror Picture Show Jim Sharman United Kingdom, United States 2025Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror Linus O'Brien United States
A Tribute to Claudio Caligari Claudio Caligari was an Italian director and screenwriter. The production country of all the films is Italy. English title Original title Director(s) Cast Don't Be Bad Non essere cattivo Claudio Caligari Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Silvia D'Amico, Roberta Mattei Toxic Love Amore tossico Claudio Caligari Cesare Ferretti, Michela Mioni, Enzo Di Benedetto, Roberto Stani The Scent of the Night L'odore della notte Claudio Caligari Valerio Mastandrea, Marco Giallini, Alessia Fugardi, Giorgio Tirabassi The Madness of the Revolution La follia della rivoluzione Claudio Caligari Documentary The Lower Part La Parte Bassa Claudio Caligari, Franco Barbero Documentary
Restorations