Many world famous film stars including Sophia Loren, Sharon Stone and Tom Cruise will light up this year’s second edition of the Rome Cinema Festival, organizers said Thursday.

Among the starts are also Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Halle Berry, Monica Bellucci, Robert Redford and Sean Penn.

Blanchett will be the first to hit the red carpet on Oct. 19 in a reprise of her acclaimed 1998 Elizabeth I portrayal in visionary Indian director Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Loren will bring the curtain down on Oct. 27 as she receives a career achievement award, Italian News Agency ANSA said on Thursday.

In between, an array of would-be blockbusters and more arty fare from 40 countries will bid to draw at least as many viewers as the half million spectators the inaugural edition attracted.

Rome’s film-buff mayor Walter Veltroni, who achieved his dream of bringing a major movie event to the Italian capital despite sneers from the cinema establishment and controversy over a clash with the Venice festival, said Thursday, “This year is going to be even better”.

There will be 14 films competing for the top Marcus Aurelius prize, including two Italian films – Carlo Mazzacurati’s “la Giusta Distanza” and Emidio Greco’s “L’Uomo Privato”.

Also in contention are two Spanish films – “Barcelona” and “Una Mapa and Caotica Ana”; “Fugitive Pieces from Canada”; China’s “Li Chun”; and an Iranian-Japanese production, “Hafez”.

Among the festival’s special events are a focus on India with new films such as Anurag Kashyap’s “No Smoking” and a look at new socially and environmentally conscious movies from Hollywood such as Penn’s “Into The Wild”.

Source: Xinhua (Source: People’s Daily Online)