Today was the 2nd public day of the Rome Film Festival, and for many the most exciting with the premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s first film in ten years. The festival’s organizers proudly announced that it had sold a grand total of 42 thousand tickets to the ten-day event, eight in two days.

However, despite the festival’s public success, there have been some pretty vocal dissenters. Trevi fountain was stained red this morning in a protest over the expenses incurred by Rome’s festival, red referring to the red carpet currently covering the entrance to the Auditorium Parco della Musica. What aggravated the problem was the fact that the fountain runs on a closed circuit and so for some time was flowing with red water. However, apparently it has not left any long-term damage and has now been cleared. Actions speak louder than words, but then again ticket sales louder still.

In the press meeting for his newest film, Youth Without Youth, Coppola also defended himself over recent claims that he believes Hollywood godfathers Di Nero, Pacino, and Nicholson are lazy and wasted talent. Calling the story a series of badly edited statements “cobbled together” he told reporters that, on the contrary, he thought that they were “the greatest actors in Hollywood.” Rebuffing the claim put forward in the press that he thought he had made Pacino and Di Nero who they are today, he said that on the contrary, “I didn’t make them, it was they who made me.”

As one of the most famous and decorated directors alive today, Coppola remains down to earth, cultivated, and modest. Despite the barrage of questions aimed solely at him, he constantly deflected attention to the others on stage: Director of photography Mihai Malaimare, longtime friend and collaborator, Walter Murch who worked on the final editing of the film, and Tim Roth and Alexandra Maria Lara who gave outstanding performances in the lead roles. This afternoon sees a retrospective of his work with a public Q&A session. Let us hope they have something more interesting to ask than the inane questions from the press. (In case you were wondering - no, he isn’t going to make a Godfather 4!)

Colin Firth also went some way to putting to rest the notion that the English never bother to learn any other languages today when he surprised everyone, interviewer included, by taking off his translation headset and speaking in Italian. Despite his Italian mother’s refusal to speak to him in her native tongue, he seems to have picked it up “in giro.” As if we didn’t have a big enough crush on him already. His young co-star Matthew Beard says he has no immediate plans to act again and will be heading to University this autumn to study English literature in York. A bright young addition to their drama scene no doubt and one to watch for the future.

This evening also saw the premiere of August Rush, featuring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Terrence Howard, and Robin Williams. A beautifully wrought, heartwarming story with none of the usual cheesiness that seems obligatory in children’s films these days; this is the new Billy Elliot for musicians. The best film I’ve seen this festival, look out for a rave review in the morning…