Rome Film Fest, the full programme: Bardem, Vitti and the new Pontecorvo award

This morning Redazione Zero had reported the confirmation of two awards at the Rome Film Fest, scheduled from 13 to 25 October: the Premio Miglior Opera Prima Poste Italiane and the Premio al Miglior Documentario. In the afternoon the Fondazione Cinema per Roma released the full programme of the twenty-first edition, with artistic direction by Paola Malanga, along with several announcements that broaden the picture.

Monica Vitti is the face chosen for the event’s official image. Javier Bardem and British producer Tessa Ross will receive lifetime achievement awards: Bardem, an Oscar winner for the film “No Country for Old Men”, will be presented with the award by Paolo Sorrentino, and the actor will bring to Rome “El ser querido” by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, screened in the section dedicated to the best of the year. Tessa Ross, meanwhile, will receive her award during the opening evening on 13 October, as part of the Industry Lifetime Achievement Award.

2026 also marks the debut of a new award, the Premio Gillo Pontecorvo, given to “Notre salut” by Emmanuel Marre, twenty years after the death of the Neapolitan director, a historic figure of Italian political cinema. Alongside the already known awards and the new one, the programme also includes the debut of the Banca Ifis Music Award, designed to recognise the link between cinema and music production.

The picture that emerges in the afternoon is thus broader than what was reported this morning: to the component already announced, dedicated to first-time directors and documentary, the lifetime achievement awards are now added, along with the official image entrusted to Monica Vitti and the new award dedicated to Pontecorvo. These are elements that complete the structure of the twenty-first edition ahead of the opening on 13 October, when the Rome Film Fest will officially get under way with the opening ceremony and the presentation of the first of the lifetime achievement awards announced in the programme released today by the Fondazione.