20th Rome Film Festival


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 19i 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

Progressive Cinema, [|Freestyle] and Grand Public Competition sections

  • Santiago Mitre, Argentine film director and screenwriter
  • 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 titleOriginal titleDirectorProduction country
Life Goes This WayLa vita va cosìRiccardo MilaniItaly

Special events

A Tribute to Susan Seidelman

Susan Seidelman is an American film director, producer, and writer.

A Tribute to Claudio Caligari

Claudio Caligari was an Italian director and screenwriter. The production country of all the films is Italy.
English titleOriginal titleDirectorCast
Don't Be BadNon essere cattivoClaudio CaligariLuca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Silvia D'Amico, Roberta Mattei
Toxic LoveAmore tossicoClaudio CaligariCesare Ferretti, Michela Mioni, Enzo Di Benedetto, Roberto Stani
The Scent of the NightL'odore della notteClaudio CaligariValerio Mastandrea, Marco Giallini, Alessia Fugardi, Giorgio Tirabassi
The Madness of the RevolutionLa follia della rivoluzioneClaudio CaligariDocumentary
The Lower Part La Parte BassaClaudio Caligari, Franco BarberoDocumentary

Tribute to David Puttnam – Industry Lifetime Achievement Award

David Puttnam, British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords.

Awards

The jury awarded the following prizes to the films presented in the festival:

Progressive Cinema Competition - Visions for the World of Tomorrow

Best Film: Left-Handed Girl by Shih-Ching Tsou, Taiwan, France, United States, United KingdomJury Grand Prix: Nino by Pauline LoquèsBest Director: Wang Tong for Wild Nights, Tamed BeastsBest Screenplay: Alireza Khatami for The Things You KillBest Actress – Monica Vitti Award

Poste Italiane Best First Feature Award

Keep Me in Mind by Alberto Palmiero

Best Documentary Award

Cuba & Alaska by Yegor Troyanovsky

Terna Audience Award

Roberto Rossellini, More Than a Life by Ilaria de Laurentiis, Andrea Paolo Massara and Raffaele Brunetti

Industry Lifetime Achievement Award

  • David Puttnam, British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Progressive Lifetime Achievement Award

Master of Film Award

Lazio Terra di Cinema Award