Rome Film Festival Lines Up Nelson, Luna, Riley and Eisenberg Premieres

Tim Blake Nelson's prison saga "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd," Diego Luna's migration drama "Ashes," Boots Riley's anticapitalist satire "I Love Boosters" and Jesse Eisenberg's "The Debut" will launch in Italy at the upcoming Rome Film Festival.

The festival's 21st edition runs Oct. 13–25 in the Italian capital. As previously announced, it will open with "Perfect Strangers" director Paolo Genovese's concept movie "Il Rumore Delle Cose Nuove," about three Milanese couples whose lives become intertwined by an unexpected event.

Most non-Italian titles screening in Rome have already surfaced on the festival circuit. Still, the lineup includes several world premieres. Alexandre Castagnetti brings a contemporary, French-language reimagining of the 19th-century classic "The Phantom of the Opera," starring Deva Cassel, Julien De Saint-Jean and Romain Duris. Bille August, meanwhile, presents his long-gestating post-World War II drama "Me, You," with Tim Roth, Sonia Ammar and Laura Morante.

Javier Bardem will receive a lifetime achievement award, as previously announced. The Oscar-winning actor will present a screening of Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen's "The Beloved" ("El ser querido"), showcased in the festival's best-of-the-fests section.

That section spans a range of high-profile festival titles. It includes the French epic "De Gaulle," directed by Antonin Baudry, which premiered out of competition at Cannes; Simon Stone's "Elsinore," the true story of Ian Charleson, the Scottish "Chariots of Fire" star who played Hamlet at London's National Theatre as AIDS was quietly taking his life; Fatih Akin's "Ghost Song," which opened San Sebastian; and Peter Farrelly's crowdpleaser "I Play Rocky," about the making of the classic 1976 sports drama.

Susan Sarandon will also be honored, as previously announced, by the festival's independently run Alice in the City sidebar, dedicated to films for children and youth.

Sarandon will attend the Eternal City festival for two reasons. She will promote the international launch of "The Accompanist," the feature film debut of "Silicon Valley" star Zach Woods, in which she stars. She will also receive the event's Womenlands Excellence Award, dedicated to outstanding Italian and international women who distinguish themselves in culture, entertainment and activism.

The industry side gets its own laureate. British producer Tessa Ross, co-CEO of London-based House Productions — whose credits include "Conclave" and, more recently, Danny Boyle's "Ink" — will receive the festival's industry lifetime achievement award.

With Bardem and Sarandon on the red carpet, new work from Nelson, Luna, Riley and Eisenberg, and world premieres from August and Castagnetti, the Rome festival positions its 21st edition as a bridge between the international awards circuit and its longstanding showcase role for Italian cinema.