Rome film festival to honor Connery

By Eric J. Lyman

ROME (Hollywood Reporter) – Oscar winner Sean Connery will
receive the Acting Award for his career achievements and will
host the launch of a retrospective of 14 of his films at the
first Rome Cinema Fest, festival organizers announced at a
media briefing Wednesday.

The October 13-21 event also announced the creation of
three parallel competitions, and it confirmed speculation that
the Italian festival would have an “informal collaborative
relationship” with New York’s Tribeca Film Festival.

But the news about Connery was the centerpiece of the day’s
announcements. Organizers said Connery would attend the first
several days of the Rome festival, including the screening of
the 1965 film “The Hill,” which will kick off a retrospective
selected by the 75-year-old actor.

Other Connery films to be screened include the 1963 James
Bond classic “From Russia With Love,” Alfred Hitchcock’s
“Marnie” (1964), John Huston’s “The Man Who Would Be King”
(1975), Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “The Name of the Rose” (1986),
John McTiernan’s “The Hunt for Red October” (1990) and Gus Van
Sant’s “Finding Forrester”(2000).

Organizers also announced the creation of three parallel
awards carrying the names of individual sponsors: The Cult
Prize — named for a television network in Italy — for
documentaries; the Blockbuster Prize for out-of-competition
films premiering at the Rome event; and the 3-Italia Prize —
named for an Italian mobile phone company — for projects from
young filmmakers.

The collaboration with Tribeca has been rumored for months,
but the announcement Wednesday was the first official
confirmation of it. Officials did not elaborate, saying only
that the ties between the two festivals were “informal” and
that three top Tribeca officials had made the trip to Rome for
the day’s briefing.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter