Today the Rome Film Festival proper opened with the world premiere of one of the biggest releases this year, the second installation in the Elizabeth trilogy from director Shekhar Kapur, Elizabeth: the Golden Age, featuring Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush.

After Monica Bellucci stole the show yesterday playing the femme fatale in Le Deuxieme souffle yesterday, Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of one of the most controversial figures in history has surely crowned her queen of the red carpet in a stunning green and black ball gown.

Other premieres today included Have Dreams, Will Travel with young stars Anna Sophia Robb and Cayden Boyd making their way into the auditorium by daylight, while the India Focus section kicked-off with Guru, Ghandi My Father and Khoya Khoya Chand, a colorful film about the parallel between film and life in the world of Bollywood. Lead Soho Ali Khan (Nikhat) could be seen strolling through the complex, though she didn’t seem too impressed at being upstaged by Blanchett.

Continuing the lineup of screen icons, this afternoon saw the beginning of the Sophia Loren retrospective as part of her IMAIE Acting Award with the screening of Ieri, Oggi, Domani. While the passing of the years may have affected her once incomparable beauty, she has lost nothing of her wit and charm and remains a revered Italian icon.

Other interesting interviews included a conversation with Joel Surnow, writer and producer of 24, in which he revealed that the show was originally intended to be a romantic comedy based around 24 hours of wedding planning! Devotees of the series can only be thankful they decided to increase the stakes…!

The festival launched fully to the public this afternoon with a classical concert devoted entirely to cinema music by the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, featuring tenor Andrea Bocelli and conducted by Lu Jia. Due to a conflict with the press meeting for Elizabeth: The Golden Years, I couldn’t attend, but there were also several docu-films being shown this evening about how the orchestra was created.

Beyond the glare of the bright lights, a group of Buddhist monks were in the auditorium tonight trying to draw attention to the plight of the Burmese people. In contrast to the cameras and red carpet outside, the monk’s red robes were a stark reminder of the growing awareness of the social responsibility and influence cinema has today.