From ScreenDaily:
Brotherhood, Helen Mirren, Giorgio Diritti triumph in Rome
The fourth edition of the International Rome Film Festival awarded the Golden Marc’Aurelio Award for best film to Danish-Italian Nicolo Donato’s feature directorial debut Brotherhood (Brotherskab).
Donato’s film delves into the unexpected love that erupts between two young men in a radical right wing group. Trust Nordisk is handling world sales on the project.
The award was chosen by an international jury presided over by Milos Forman. “This is a dream come true, thank you, thank you, thank you Rome,” Donato said, accepting his prize.
Giorgio Diritti’s The Man Who Will Come won two top prizes. The 1944-set film depicting life in the small Italian village of Marzabotto before a Nazi massacre took the international jury’s Silver Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Award and the Golden Marc’Aurelio Audience Award For Best Film – BNL, which comes with a $60,000 (Euros 40,000) cash prize and is voted on by festival goers.
The Man Who Will Come is sold by Intramovies and was produced by Arancia with the support of Rai Cinema. The project came through Rome’s own New Cinema Network in 2006. Mikado will handle Italian distribution.
“This story touches a dramatic story from the Italian history,” Diritti said, accepting the public prize. “It is a story of the public from 60 years ago. I thank you from my heart.”
Helen Mirren won Rome’s Silver Marc’Aurelio award for best actress for her performance as Leo Tolstoy’s devoted wife in Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station. Gabriele Muccino presented the honour to Mirren, who brought the house down with an acceptance speech in Italian in which she cited the inspiration of Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura and that of the iconic actresses Monica Vitti, Claudia Cardinale, Stefania Sandrelli, Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren.
The international jury assigned the Silver Marc’Aurelio award for best actor to Italian Sergio Castellito for his role as a single father who lives his boxing dreams vicariously through his son in Alessandro Angelini’s Alza La Testa.
Meryl Streep, in town to promote Julie & Julia and participate in a Rome’s Extra event in which she provided commentary on the best performances of her career, accepted the Career Marc’Aurelio Award from Giuseppe Tornatore.
Rome winners:
The Golden Marc’Aurelio Jury Award For Best Film –Brotherhood (Brotherskab) by Nicolo Donato
The Golden Marc’Aurelio Jury Award for Best Actress – Helen Mirren for The Last Station
Golden Marc’Aurelio Award for Best Actor – Sergio Castellito for Alza La Testa
Silver Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Award – The Man Who Will Come (L’Uomo Che Verra) by Giorgio Diritti
Golden Marc’Aurelio Audience Award For Best Film –The Man Who Will Come
Alice In The City (prizes voted by teen jurors):
Silver Marc’Aurelio for over 12 –Winter In Wartime (Oorlogswinter) by Martin Koolhoven with a special mention to Vegas by Gunnar Vikene
The Silver Marc’Aurelio Alice Nella Citta for under 12 – Last Ride by Glendyn Ivin
Silver Marc’Aurelio for best documentary – Sons Of Cuba by Andrew Lang
Special Mentions – Fratelli D’Italia by Claudio Giovannesi and Severe Clear by Kristian Fraga.
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Brotherhood isn't scheduled for release in Denmark until April, 2010, so it may be that nation's Foreign Language Oscar nominee next year (don't know precisely how those things work).
Is The Last Station scheduled for release this year in the U.S.? Could Helen Mirren be a stealth nominee?